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tihvavy  of  t:he  theological  Seminar;? 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


•d^r. 


THE    HISTOR%,,,,,,,e^ 


OF 


THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE 


BY    THE 


/ 


Rev.  W.  F.  MOULTON,  M.A,  D.D., 


MASTER    OF    THE    LEYS    SCHOOL,     CAMBRIDGE. 


Cassell    Petter    &    GALPIN: 

LONDON,    PARIS    &=    NEW    YORK, 


[all  rights  reserved.] 


PREFACE 


The  following  pages  are,  in  the  main,  a  reprint  of 
articles  which  appeared  in  the  "Bible  Educator," 
edited  by  Professor  Plumptre.  I  have  made  some 
corrections  and  slight  additions,  and  restored  some 
pages  (about  twenty  in  all)  which  the  necessary 
limits  of  space  excluded  from  the  "  Bible  Educator." 

That  the  little  book  owes  very  much  to  the  many 
able  writers  on  the  subject  need  hardly  be  said.  I 
trust  that  in  every  case  I  have  made  full  acknow- 
ledgment of  my  debt.  My  own  labour  has  been 
chiefly  devoted  to  a  careful  examination  of  the 
characteristics  of  each  version  ;  and  here,  unless  the 
contrary  is  expressly  stated,  I  have  depended  entirely 
on  my  own  collations.  In  most  instances  these  will 
be  found  to  confirm,  but  occasionally  to  correct  or 
extend,  the  conclusions  now  generally  received. 

One  obligation  demands  special  mention,  and  I 
make  the  acknowledgment  with  special  pleasure  and 


IV  PREFACE. 

gratitude.  The  number  of  references  to  Professor 
Westcott's  "  History "  is  but  an  inadequate  measure 
of  my  indebtedness  to  that  work.  Those  only  who 
have  endeavoured  to  work  on  the  Hnes  which  Dr. 
Westcott  has  marked  out  can  really  understand 
how  much  he  has  done  to  promote  the  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  English  Versions  of  the  Bible. 

W.    F.    M. 

Cambridge, 

February,  1878. 


CONTE  NTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE   EARLIER   PARAPHRASTS. 

Our  English  Bible  one  out  of  many  Translations  —  The  History  of  the 
English  Bible  not  identical  with  that  of  the  Authorised  Version — 
What  is  "English?" — The  Earliest  Paraphrases — Csedmon — Specimen 
of  his  Work — Aldhelm — Guthlac — Bede's  Translation  of  St.  John — 
Alfred's  "  Dooms  " — The  Anglo-Saxon  Versions  only  Partial — Anglo- 
Norman  Translations — Metrical  Paraphrases — Specimens — Versions  of 
the  Psalter i- 

CHAPTER   II. 

THE   WYCLIFFITE    VERSIONS. 

Birth  and  Early  Life  of  Wycliflfe— Patronised  by  John  of  Gaunt— The  Early 
and  Later  Wj'cliffite  Versions — The  General  Prologue— Authorship  of 
the  Versions — Specimens — Introduction  of  Textual  Glosses  and  Expla- 
natory Notes  —  Latin  Original  of  the  Versions  —  Rapid  Multiplication 
of  Copies  —  Is  this  the  First  English  Bible  ?  —  Statement  of  Sir  T. 
More 17- 

CHAPTER   III. 

A   CENTURY   OF    PREPARATION. 

Important  Events  in  the  Period  between  Wycliffe  and  Tyndale — Wycliflfe's 
Translations  Condemned — John  Huss  — Revival  of  the  Study  of  Greek 
— The  Invention  of  Printing — Erasmus  in  England — His  Greek  Testa- 
ment and  Latin  Paraphrase — The  Complutensian  Polyglott — The  Vul- 
gate—  Other  Latin  Versions — Vernacular  Translations  —  The  First 
French  Bible — German  and  Italian  Bibles — Luther's  Version — Trans- 
lations of  Luther's  Bible — Other  Workers  in  Germany 33- 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

WILLIAM   TYNDALE. — I. 

PAGE 

Birth  and  Early  Life  of  Tyndale— His  Residence  with  Sir  John  Walsh- 
Determines  to  Translate  the  Bible — Visits  London — Leaves  England — 
Discovered  at  Cologne  by  Cochlaeus— Flees  to  Worms — Tyndale's  New- 
Testament  Reaches  England— Endeavours  to  Prevent  it — The  Transla- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  Commenced — Tyndale's  Betrayal  and  Exe- 
cution— Various  Estimates  of  his  Character 43 — 58 

CHAPTER  V. 

WILLIAM   TYNDALE. — II. 

Examination  of  Tyndale's  Work — The  New  Testament  —  Comparison  of 
the  Different  Editions— Revisions  of  Tyndale's  Version— Joye — Speci- 
mens of  the  Different  Editions  Compared — Characteristics  of  Tyndale's 
Version — Very  few  Unfamiliar  Words  in  it— Similarity  to  the  Authorised 
Version — What  Greek  Text  did  Tyndale  use?— Order  of  the  Books...     59 — 78 

CHAPTER  VI. 

WILLIAM   TYNDALE. — III. 

Original  Editions  of  Tyndale's  Version  in  Existence — Illustrations  and 
Marginal  Notes  —  Specimens  of  Tyndale's  Translations  of  the  Old 
Testament — Characteristic  Peculiarities  —  Question  of  Tyndale's  Inde- 
pendence— Attacks  by  Sir  Thomas  More — Objections  to  his  Language 
— How  far  Indebted  to  Previous  Workers — General  Estimate  of  Tyn- 
dale's Work 79—94 

CHAPTER    VII. 

MILES    COVERDALE. — I. 

Birth  and  Early  Life  of  Coverdale- — Stirring  Contemporary  Events— Con- 
demnation of  Tyndale — Permission  Given  for  Translation  of  the  Bible 
— Coverdale's  Bible  Printed — His  Work  on  the  Continent — Return  to 
England — Subsequent  History  and  Death — Coverdale's  Account  of 
his  Labours — Specimens  of  his  Translation 95—104 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

MILES    COVERDALE. — II. 

Characteristics  of  Coverdale's  Version — Attacks  upon  it — Question  as  to  his 
Original — Comparison  with  Tyndale's  Translation  and  the  Swiss  Version 
— Estimate  of  Coverdale's  Bible — Divisions  of  the  Work — Dedications 
and  Prologues — Coverdale's  Psalter  mainly  the  Psalter  of  the  Prayer- 
book — Use  of  Unfamiliar  Words— Copies  in  Existence — The  Latin- 
English  Testaments 105— 121 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CHAPTER    IX. 

"Matthew's  bible" — ^john  Rogers— richard  taverner. 

Publication  of  a  New  Translation  by  Matthew — Accepted  by  Cranmer  and 
Cromwell — The  Royal  License  Granted— The  First  Authorised  Version 
of  the  English  Bible— Who  was  Matthew  ?— Share  of  John  Rogers  in 
the  Work— His  Life  and  Martyrdom— Similarity  of  most  of  the  Work 
to  Tyndale's— Rogers  Editor  rather  than  Translator — Comparison  with 
Previous  Versions— Order  of  the  Books— Copies  in  Existence— Richard 
Taverner— His  Translation  Published— Characteristics  of  his  Version — 
Changes  introduced  by  him  122 — 136 

CHAPTER    X. 

THE  GREAT  BIBLE. 
Coverdale  Charged  with  the  Preparation  of  Another  Bible — His  Work  in 
France  with  Grafton — Interrupted  by  the  Inquisition — Returns  to 
England— The  First  Edition  of  the  Great  Bible  Published— The  Title- 
page  —  License  to  Print  Granted  by  the  King  to  Cromwell  —  Various 
Editions — Cranmer's  Preface — Plan  for  a  New  Translation — The  Great 
Bible  Compared  with  Previous  Versions — The  Psalter — Force  and  Beauty 
of  the  Translation — Copies  in  Existence  137 — 149 

CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  GENEVAN  VERSIONS. 
Accession  of  Edward  VI. — Active  Printing  and  Circulation  of  the  Scriptures 
— Cheke's  Translation  of  St.  Matthew — Accession  of  Mary — Persecution 
of  the  Translators — The  Exiles  in  Geneva  with  Calvin — The  Geneva 
New  Testament— Whittingham — First  Division  of  the  English  Bible 
into  Verses — The  Geneva  Bible — Compared  with  the  Geneva  Testament 
— Examples — Notes— Peculiarities  of  Language — The  English  Bible  Pre- 
sented to  Queen  Elizabeth — Tomson  s  Revision  150—167 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  bishops'  BIBLE. 
Two  Versions  of  the  Bible  in  Circulation  —  The  Bishops'  Bible  Projected 
by  Parker — Rules  for  the  Revision — Allotment  of  the  Books — Publica- 
cation  of  the  Work — The  Second  Edition  in  Quarto — Estimate  of  the 
Bishops'  Bible — Special  Peculiarities  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
New  —  Criticisms  by  Lawrence  —  The  Version  Corrected  —  Marginal 
Notes 168—180 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  RHEIMS  AND  DOUAI  BIBLE. 
English  Version  of  the  New  Testament  Circulated  among  Romanists — The 
New  Testament  from  Rheims — The  Old  Testament  from  Douai — Pro- 
bable Authors  of  the  Version — Translated  from  the  Vulgate  —Estimate 
of  the  Vulgate — The  Douai  Version  Faithful,  but  Pedantic — Examples 
— Various  Editions  Published       181 — 189 


VI 11  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE    AUTHORISED    VERSION. 

P. 
Accession  of  James  I. — The  Hampton  Court  Conference — A  New  Transla- 
tion of  the  Bible  Asked  for — Concurrence  of  the  King — The  Translators 
Appointed — Allotment  of  the  Books — Character  and  Position  of  the 
Translators — Their  Duties  Defined — Publication  of  the  New  Translation 
— Its  Relation  to  Previous  Versions — Estimate  of  the  Work— Alterations 
in  Later  Editions— Curious  Misprints 190- 

CHAPTER    XV. 

LATER   HISTORY   OF   THE   ENGLISH   BIBLE. 

Complaints  against  the  New  Version — Bill  Brought  into  Parliament  for  a 
New  Translation — Revision  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer— Various 
Schemes  of  Revision  subsequently  Proposed— The  Subject  Revived  by 
Professor  Selwyn  —  The  Revision  Committee  Appomted — The  Old 
Testament  Company— The  New  Testament  Company — The  Duties  of 
the  Revisers  Defined — Commencement  of  the  Work — Co-operation  of 
American  Scholars  Invited — Objects  of  the  New  Revision  ...        212- 


THE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  EARLIER  PARAPHRASTS  AND  TRANSLATORS. 

There  are  probably  few  readers  of  the  English  Bible  who 
are  not  aware  that  the  sacred  volume  in  their  hands  is 
but  one  of  various  translations  of  the  Scriptures  into  our 
language.  We  have  only  to  look  at  the  opening  pages  to 
become  acquainted  with  this  fact.  The  title-page  presents 
the  Holy  Bible  as  "  translated  out  of  the  original  tongues, 
and  with  the  former  translations  diligently  compared  and  re- 
vised." "  Your  Highness,"  say  the  translators  in  their  dedi- 
cation to  King  James,  "  out  of  deep  judgment  apprehended 
how  convenient  it  was,  that  out  of  the  original  sacred 
tongues,  together  with  comparing  of  the  labours,  both  in 
our  own,  and  other  foreign  languages,  of  many  worthy  men 
who  went  before  us,  there  should  be  one  more  exact  trans- 
lation of  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  the  English  tongue." 
Whilst  the  existence  of  earlier  translations  is  thus  acknow- 
ledged on  the  first  pages  of  our  Bibles,  the  translations 
themselves  are  represented  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer ; 
in  which  the  Psalms,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  many  other  passages  of  Scripture  scattered 
through  the  various  offices,  are  found  to  differ,  sometimes 
materially,  from  the  Authorised  Version  of  1611. 

This  version,  then,  was  not  the  result  of  a  single  effort ; 

B 


The  En  owlish  Bible. 


•^i> 


it  represents  the  last  stage  of  a  growth.  The  object  of  the 
present  work  will  be  to  trace  the  progress  of  this  growth, 
and  then  to  inquire  by  what  means,  and  amid  what 
influences,  it  has  arrived  at  its  present  maturity. 

It  is  not  desirable,  however,  that  the  history  of  the 
English  Bible  should  be  treated  as  identical  with  the  his- 
tory of  the  Authorised  Version.  Such  a  limitation  would 
render  it  necessary  to  pass  over  some  most  interesting 
attempts  to  make  the  Scriptures  known  to  our  countrymen, 
because  these  attempts,  important  in  themselves,  left  no 
mark  on  the  great  work  whose  history  we  are  tracing. 

These  isolated  efforts,  however,  can  receive  only  sub- 
ordinate attention.  Our  main  inquiries  must  be  : — To 
whose  labours  are  we  indebted  for  our  English  Scriptures  ? 
In  what  proportion  has  each  labourer  added  to  the  value 
of  the  treasure  ?  The  work  must  have  our  chief  considera- 
tion, not  the  workman.  In  the  case  of  some  men,  indeed, 
the  life  and  the  labour  can  with  difficulty  be  separated ; 
but,  as  a  rule,  we  must  leave  others  to  trace  the  course  of 
the  reformer,  the  divine,  or  the  martyr,  contenting  ourselves 
with  following  the  translator  and  his  translation. 

What  is  an  English  Bible  ?  This  simple  question  has 
received  different  answers.  If  the  English  language  is  the 
language  of  the  people  called  English,  it  has  been  spoken 
in  this  country  for  the  last  1,400  years.  We  are  carried 
back  to  the  invasions  of  Britain  in  the  fifth  century ;  for  the 
tribes  usually  known  by  the  name  of  Saxons  called  them- 
selves English  (^nglisc).  According  to  this  view,  "  Utan 
tobrecan  heora  bendas,  and  aweorpan  heora  geocu  of  us," 
and  "  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder,  and  cast  away  their 
cords  from  us,"  are  alike  specimens  of  English.  Certainly 
the  former  sentence  would  not  suggest  Psalm  ii.  3  to  the 
ordinary  English  reader ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  when  the 
key  is  once  supplied,  he  may  easily  discover  that  almost  all 


TJie  Paraphrase  of  CcBdmon.  3 

the  unfamiliar  words  are  closely  connected  with  the  language 
of  his  daily  life.  For  our  present  purpose  it  is  not  of  much 
consequence  to  decide  whether  the  speech  of  our  fore- 
fathers, between  a.d.  450  and  a.d.  iioo,  should  be  called 
English  or  Anglo-Saxon  :  if  the  former  name  reminds  us  of 
the  essential  unity  of  the  language  spoken  in  this  land  since 
Roman  times,  the  latter  has  the  advantage  of  avoiding  all 
ambiguity.  At  all  events,  the  early  translations  into  this 
language  are  too  important  to  be  passed  over,  even  though 
it  may  seem  unlikely  that  they  can  have  exercised  much 
influence  upon  succeeding  versions. 

The  earliest  portion  of  Anglo-Saxon  sacred  literature  now 
extant  is  the  Paraphrase  of  Csedmon,  a  monk  of  Whitby, 
who  lived  in  the  seventh  century.  The  venerable  Bede 
relates  of  Caedmon  that  "  he  sang  the  creation  of  the  world, 
the  origin  of  man,  and  all  the  history  of  Genesis,  and  made 
many  verses  on  the  departure  of  the  children  of  Israel  out 
of  Egypt,  and  their  entering  into  the  Land  of  Promise, 
with  many  other  histories  from  Holy  Writ ;  the  incarnation, 
passion,  resurrection  of  our  Lord,  and  his  ascension  into 
heaven ;  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  the  preaching 
of  the  apostles  ;  also  the  terror  of  future  judgment,  the 
horror  of  the  pains  of  hell,  and  the  delights  of  heaven.''  ^ 
That  which  has  come  down  to  us  under  Csedmon's  name 
may  have  received  considerable  alteration  at  the  hands  of 
later  poets  and  reciters;  but  the  reHcs  agree  with  Bede's 
description.  The  following  extract  from  Thorpe's  prose 
translation  will  illustrate  the  merits  of  Caedmon  as  a  para- 
phrast  of  Scripture  : — 

Then  the  chief  earnestly  proved 

began  the  Powerful  what  the  man's 

King  to  tempt,  fortitude  were  ; 

1  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History,  translated  by  Dr.  Giles,  page  218. 
(Bohn.) 

B  2 


The  English  Bible, 


with  words  austere 
he  with  his  voice  addressed  him  : — 
Go  thou,  with  utmost  haste, 
Abraham,  journeying 

set  thy  steps, 
and  with  thee  lead 

thine  own  child. 
Thou  shalt  Isaac  to  me 

sacrifice,  thy  son, 
thyself,  as  an  offering, 

after  thou  mountest 
the  steep  downs 
(the  ring  of  the  high  land, 
which  I  from  hence  will  show  thee) 
up  with  thine  own  feet ; 
there  thou  shalt  prepare  a  pile, 

a  bale  ^-fire,  for  thy  child, 

and  thyself  sacrifice 
thy  son  with  the  sword's  edge, 


and  then  with  swart  flame 
bum  the  beloved's  body, 
and  offer  it  to  me  as  a  gift. 
He  delayed  not  the  journey, 

but  soon  began 
to  hasten  for  the  way. 
To  him  was  the  Lord  of  angels' 

word  terrific, 
and  his  Sovereign  dear. 
Then  the  blessed 
Abraham  his 
night-rest  gave  up, 
the  Preserver's 
behest  despised  not, 
but  him  the  holy  man 
girded  with  a  gray  sword, 
showed  that  of  the   Guardian   of 
spirits 
dread  in  his  breast  dwelt. 


Important  as  this  paraphrase  is,  as  the  earliest  Anglo- 
Saxon  work  presenting  Scripture  in  any  form,  it  has,  of 
course,  no  claim  to  rank  among  translations.  The  first 
translators  of  whom  we  have  any  information  are  Aldhelm, 
Bishop  of  Sherborne  (who  died  a.d.  709),  and  Guthlac, 
a  hermit  of  Crowland,  near  Peterborough ;  to  each  of  these 
is  ascribed  a  version  of  the  Psalter,  now  probably  lost.  The 
last  work  in  the  laborious  life  of  Bede  was  a  translation 
of  the  Gospel  according  to  St.  John  into  the  language  of 
the  people.  His  devotion  to  this  labour  of  love,  and 
his  eagerness  to  complete  it,  are  touchingly  described 
by  his  disciple  Cuthbert,  in  a  letter  to  his  "  fellow-reader 
Cuthwin,"  on  the  death  of  their  "  father  and  master,  whom 
God  loved." 

"  During  these  days,"  Cuthbert  writes,  "  he  laboured  to 
compose  two  works  well  worthy  to  be  remembered,  besides 


A  funeral  pile. 


Bedes  Translation  of  St.  John.  5 

the  lessons  we  had  from  him,  and  singing  of  Psalms  ;  viz., 
he  translated  the  Gospel  of  St.  John  as  far  as  the  words 
*  But  what  are  these  among  so  many,'  etc.  [St.  John  vi.  9], 
into  our  own  tongue  for  the  benefit  of  the  Church;  and 
some  collections  out  of  the  Book  of  Notes  of  Bishop 
Isidorus,  saying  :  *  I  will  not  have  my  pupils  read  a  false- 
hood, nor  labour  therein  without  profit  after  my  death.' 
When  the  Tuesday  before  the  ascension  of  our  Lord  came, 
he  began  to  suffer  still  more  in  his  breath,  and  a  small 
swelhng  appeared  in  his  feet;  but  he  passed  all  that  day 
and  dictated  cheerfully,  and  now  and  then,  among  other 
things,  said,  '  Go  on  quickly,  I  know  not  how  long  I  shall 
hold  out,  and  whether  my  Maker  will  not  soon  take  me 
away.'  But  to  us  he  seemed  very  well  to  know  the  time  of 
his  departure  ;  and  so  he  spent  the  night,  awake,  in  thanks- 
giving ;  and  when  the  morning  appeared,  that  is,  Wednesday, 
he  ordered  us  to  write  with  all  speed  what  he  had  begun ; 
and  this  done,  we  walked  till  the  third  hour  with  the  relics 
of  the  saints,  according  to  the  custom  of  that  day.  There 
was  one  of  us  with  him,  who  said  to  him,  '  Most  dear 
master,  there  is  still  one  chapter  wanting :  do  you  think 
it  troublesome  to  be  asked  any  more  questions?'  He 
answered,  '  It  is  no  trouble.     Take  your  pen,  and  make 

ready  and  write  fast.' Having  said  much  more, 

he  passed  the  day  joyfully  till  the  evening ;  and  the  boy 
above  mentioned  said  :  '  Dear  master,  there  is  yet  one 
sentence  not  written/  He  answered,  'Write  quickly.'  Soon 
after,  the  boy  said,  *  The  sentence  is  now  written.'  He 
replied,  '  It  is  well,  you  have  said  the  truth.  It  is  ended. 
Receive  my  head  into  your  hands,  for  it  is  a  great  satis- 
faction to  me  to  sit  facing  my  holy  place,  where  I  was  wont 
to  pray,  that  I  may  also  sitting  call  upon  my  Father.'  And 
thus,  on  the  pavement  of  his  little  cell,  singing :  '  Glory  be 
to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost,' 


TJie  Enzlish  Bible. 


when  he  had  named  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  breathed  his  last, 
and  so  departed  to  the  heavenly  kingdom.^" 

The  next  translator  is  a  royal  personage,  the  great 
Alfred  (a.d.  849 — 901).  In  the  preface  to  his  translation  of 
Gregory's  "  Pastoral  Care,"  the  king  gives  expression  to  his 
wish  that  "  all  the  free-born  youth  of  his  people,  who  possess 
the  means,  may  persevere  in  learning,  so  long  as  they  have 
no  other  affairs  to  prosecute,  until  they  can  perfectly  read 
the  English  Scriptures.""  How  far  he  himself  was  able  to 
minister  to  the  fulfilment  of  this  noble  wish,  by  providing 
versions  of  Scripture  for  the  use  of  his  people,  we  cannot 
say  "with  certainty.  According  to  William  of  Malmesbury, 
Alfred  began  a  version  of  the  Psalms,  but  the  work  was 
interrupted  by  his  death.  One  monument  of  Alfreds 
devout  zeal  is  too  characteristic  to  be  passed  over,  especially 
as  very  possibly  we  have  in  it  the  earliest  extant  portion  of 
Scripture  in  Anglo-Saxon  prose.  At  the  head  of  his  "  Book 
of  Law^s"  he  places  the  Ten  Commandments,  not  indeed 
rendered  wdth  verbal  accuracy,  but  differently  arranged  and 
somewhat  abridged.  The  following  literal  translation  is 
given  by  Mr.  Thorpe  in  his  edition  of  the  "  Ancient  Laws 
and  Institutions  of  England  : " — 

"Alfred's  dooms. 

"  The  Lord  spake  these  words  to  Moses,  and  thus  said  : 
I  am  the  Lord  thy  God.  I  led  thee  out  of  the  land  of  the 
Egyptians  and  of  their  bondage. 

"  I.  Love  thou  not  other  strange  gods  above  me. 

"  2.  Utter  thou  not  my  name  idly,  for  thou  shalt  not  be 
guiltless  towards  me,  if  thou  utter  my  name  idly. 

"  3.  Remember  that  thou  hallow  the  rest-day.  AVork  for 
yourselves  six  days,  and  on  the  seventh  rest.     For  in  six 

1  Giles,  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History y  pp.  xx. ,  xxi.     (Bohn. ) 
-  Pauli,  Life  of  Alfred  the  Great,  p.  159.     (Bohn.) 


Alfred's  Dooms.  7 

days  Christ  wrought  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  the  seas, 
and  all  creatures  that  are  in  them,  and  rested  on  the  seventh 
day :  and  therefore  the  Lord  hallowed  it. 

"  4.  Honour  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  whom  the  Lord 
hath  given  thee,  that  thou  mayest  be  the  longer  living  on 
earth. 

"5.  Slay  thou  not. 

"6.  Commit  thou  not  adultery. 

"7.  Steal  thou  not. 

"  8.  Say  thou  not  false  witness. 

"  9.  Covet  thou  not  thy  neighbour's  goods  unjustly. 

"  10.  Make  thou  not  to  thyself  golden  or  silver  gods." 

The  Decalogue  is  followed  by  an  abridged  version  of  the 
twenty-first,  twenty-second,  and  part  of  the  twenty-third 
chapters  of  Exodus,  faithful  in  the  main,  but  with  certain 
alterations  {e.g.,  in  xxi.  2,  ''a  Christian"  for  *'a  Hebrew") 
which  occasionally  give  the  document  an  incongruous  appear- 
ance. After  Exod.  xxi.  13,  we  read,  "These  are  the  dooms 
which  the  Almighty  God  himself  spake  unto  Moses,  and 
commanded  him  to  keep  :  and  after  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  the  Lord,  our  God,  that  is,  our  Saviour  Christ,  came  on 
earth,  he  said  that  he  came  not  to  break  nor  to  forbid  these 
commandments,  but  with  all  good  to  increase  them :  and 
mercy  and  humility  he  taught.  Then,  after  his  passion,  be- 
fore his  apostles  were  dispersed  throughout  all  the  earth, 
teaching,  and  while  they  were  yet  together,  many  heathen 
nations  they  turned  to  God.  When  they  were  all  assembled, 
they  sent  messengers  to  Antioch  and  to  Syria,  to  teach  the 
law  of  Christ.  But  when  they  understood  that  it  speeded 
them  not,  then  sent  they  a  letter  unto  them.  Now  this  is 
the  letter  which  all  the  apostles  sent  to  Antioch,  and  to 
Syria,  and  Cilicia,  which  now,  from  heathen  nations,  are 
turned  to  Christ."  Then  follows  a  free  version  of  the  epistle 
(Acts  XV.  23 — 29),  of  which  we  may  quote  the  concluding 


The  Enzlish  Bible. 


part  (as  rendered  by  Mr.  Thorpe).  "It  seemed  to  the  Koly 
Ghost  and  to  us,  that  we  should  set  no  burthen  upon  you 
above  that  which  it  was  needful  for  you  to  bear  :  now  that 
is,  that  ye  forbear  from  worshipping  idols,  and  from  tasting 
blood  or  things  strangled,  and  from  fornications  ;  and  that 
which  ye  will  that  other  men  do  not  unto  you,  do  ye  not 
that  to  other  men." 

The  Anglo-Saxon  versions  which  have  come  down  to  us 
comprise  little  more  than  the  Psalter,  the  four  Gospels,  the 
Pentateuch,  and  some  of  the  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament.  Of  the  Psalter,  three  versions  have  been  given 
to  the  world,  edited  by  Spelman  (1640),  Stevenson  (1843), 
and  Thorpe  (1835).  The  last -mentioned  version  (from 
which  Ps.  ii.  3  is  quoted  in  page  2)  is  found  in  the 
National  Library  of  Paris ;  Ps.  i. — li.  are  rendered  in 
prose,  the  remainder  in  verse.  It  has  been  maintained 
that  this  is  Aldhelm's  translation,  and  is  therefore  as  old 
as  the  seventh  century :  of  this,  however,  there  is  not  suffi- 
cient proof  It  is  more  probable  that  all  three  versions 
belong  to  the  ninth  century.  The  version  edited  by  Steven- 
son for  the  Surtees  Society  in  1843  is  taken  from  a  MS.  in 
the  British  Museum  :  it  is  written  between  the  lines  of  a 
Latin  Psalter  which  is  believed  to  belong  to  the  sixth 
century,  and  to  have  been  sent  by  Gregory  the  Great  to 
Augustine  soon  after  his  arrival  in  England^  (a.d.  596). 
The  Psalter  edited  by  Spelman  is  of  a  similar  kind.  These 
translations,  of  course,  are  from  the  Latin.  For  many 
hundred  years  Hebrew  was  almost  an  unknown  language 
in  Europe,  and  the  old  Latin  version,  or  that  of  Jerome 
(partly  a  revision  of  the  old  Latin,  partly  a  new  translation), 
was  the  Bible  of  Western  Christendom.  The  Latin  Psalter 
which  accompanies  the  Anglo-Saxon  in  the  two  MSS.  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking,  is  not  identical  with  that  which 
^  Baber,  New  Testament  by  Widif,  p.  Iviii. 


Anglo-Saxon    Versions.  g 

is  contained  in  ordinary  editions  of  the  Latin  Bible:  it 
represents  the  earliest  of  Jerome's  revisions,  known  as  the 
Roman  Psalter.  Of  the  Gospels,  also,  three  versions  are 
extant,  which  appear  to  belong  to  the  tenth  century.^  One 
of  these,  probably  the  earliest  in  date,  was  first  published  in 
157 1>  by  Archbishop  Parker,  with  a  dedication  to  Queen 
Elizabeth,  written  by  John  Foxe ;  afterwards  by  Junius  and 
Marshall  (1665),  by  Thorpe  (1824),  and  by  Bosworth  (1865). 
Several  MSS.  of  this  version  exist  in  our  great  libraries,  some 
furnished  with  rubrics  for  guidance  in  public  reading.  Of  the 
translator  nothing  is  known,  nor  is  it  certain  that  the  whole 
work  is  from  the  same  hand.  From  certain  peculiarities  in 
the  text  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  Dr.  Marshall  was  led  to  con- 
jecture that  in  this  Gospel  we  may  have  Bede's  version, 
referred  to  on  page  5.  It  is  not  probable  that  any  portion 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Gospels  was  derived  immediately  from 
the  Greek  original ;  but  to  all  who  study  the  text  of  the 
Latin  New  Testament  this  version  is  of  great  importance. 
The  Latin  text  before  the  translator  evidently  agreed  fre- 
quently with  the  oldest  and  best  manuscripts  of  the  Vulgate, 
properly  so  called,  but  not  unfrequently  with  the  translation 
in  use  before  the  time  of  Jerome.  In  Matt.  v.  22,  for 
example,  "  without  a  cause  "  is  not  found  either  in  the  Vul- 
gate or  in  the  Anglo-Saxon,  though  the  more  ancient  Latin 
version  contained  the  words  ;  on  the  other  hand,  the  28th 
and  29th  verses  of  the  twentieth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew  are 
in  the  Anglo-Saxon  separated  by  a  verse  of  considerable 
length,  which  Jerome  rightly  removed  from  the  Latin  text. 

^  An  admirable  edition  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Gospels  is  now  in  course 
of  publication  at  the  Cambridge  University  Press,  under  the  editorship 
of  the  Rev.  W,  W.  Skeat.  In  this  edition  the  readings  of  all  the  MSS., 
including  the  Lindisfarne  and  Rushvi^orth  Glosses,  are  carefully  given. 
For  an  excellent  description  of  the  MSS.,  and  of  the  printed  editions, 
see  the  Introductions  to  Part  II.  (St.  Mark),  and  Part  III.  (St.  Luke). 


10  The  English  Bible. 


-^>' 


A  version  of  a  different  kind  is  preserved  in  one  of  the 
Cotton  Manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum,  known  as  the 
"  Book  of  Durham/'  the  "  Gospels  of  St.  Cuthbert/'  or  the 
''  Lindisfarne  Gospels."  This  manuscript  contains  the  four 
Gospels  in  Latin,  transcribed  by  Eadfrith,  afterwards  Bishop 
of  Lindisfarne,  late  in  the  seventh  century.  About  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  a  priest  named  Aldred  added 
an  Anglo-Saxon  ''gloss"  or  word-for-word  translation,  writ- 
ing it  between  the  lines  of  the  Latin  text.  A  third  version, 
similar  to  the  last  both  in  age  and  in  character,  is  found 
in  one  of  the  manuscripts  in  the  Bodleian  Library.  This 
manuscript  is  usually  known  as  the  "  Rushworth  Gloss,"  or 
(from  the  name  of  the  scribe  who  wrote  the  Latin  text)  the 
"Gospels  of  Macregol."^  The  names  of  the  translators  of 
the  Rushworth  Gospels  appear  from  notes  which  they  have 
added  to  the  gloss :  "  Farmen  presbyter  thas  boc  thus 
gleosede,  dimittet  ei  Dominus  omnia  peccata  sua  si  fieri 
potest  apud  Dominum."  That  is  :  "  Farmen  the  presbyter 
this  book  thus  glossed ;  the  Lord  will  forgive  him  all  his 
sins,  if  it  is  possible  with  the  Lord."  "...  Owun  the  thas 
boc  gloesde.  Farmen  thsem  preoste  set  Harawuda  haefe  nu 
boc  awritne."  "  (Let  him  who  profits  by  me  pray  for) 
Owun,  who  this  book  glossed,  Farmen  the  priest  at  Hare- 
wood,  who  has  now  written  the  book." 

Near  the  close  of  the  tenth  century,  ^Ifric  translated 
into  Anglo-Saxon  (with  omissions  and  abridgments)  the 
Pentateuch,  the  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Esther,  Job,  part 
of  the  history  of  the  Kings,  and  the  books  of  Judith  and 
Maccabees.  The  greater  portion  of  this  version  has  been 
preserved  to  us,  and  has  been  twice  published ;  by  Thwaites 
in  1698,  and  recently  by  Grein,  in  his  "Library  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  Prose."    In  language  and  style  this  work  is  excellent : 

^  Mr.  Skeat  has  shown  that  the  Rushworth  is,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  a  copy  of  the  Lindisfarne  Gloss. 


Anorlo- Saxon    Versions.  1 1 


the  translation  is  very  varied  in  character,  sometimes 
close  and  literal,  sometimes  degenerating  into  free  para- 
phrase. It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  some  portions  of 
his  work  (especially  in  the  latter  half  of  Genesis)  ^Elfric 
found  yet  earlier  translations  existing,  and  turned  them  to 
account. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  fragments,  these  are  the  only 
Anglo-Saxon  translations  of  Scripture  that  are  now  extant. 
We  cannot  doubt  that  much  of  the  work  accomplished  in 
this  field  is  lost  to  us.  Tradition  points  to  translations  of 
the  whole  Bible  as  existing  in  these  early  times.  Thus 
Purvey  (writing  about  1388)  appeals  to  chronicles  and 
books  as  showing  that  "Bede  translatide  the  bible,  and 
expounide  myche  in  Saxon,  that  was  English,  either  comoun 
langage  of  this  lond,  in  his  tyme  " ;  and  similar  statements 
are  found  in  early  writers  in  regard  to  Alfred,  Eadfrith,  and 
others.  It  were  to  be  wished  that  the  documents  which 
time  has  spared  had  received  a  fuller  examination.  We  are 
still  uncertain  what  relation  exists  between  the  copies  of  the 
same  book  of  Scripture,  whether  they  are  independent  of 
each  other,  or  merely  varieties  of  one  translation.  All 
these  relics  of  antiquity  are  rich  in  philological  interest; 
but  they  are  still  more  valuable  as  monuments  of  the 
love  of  the  Bible  among  our  forefathers.  It  is  of  course 
impossible  to  determine  to  what  extent  these  vernacular 
translations  were  known  and  read.  Some  were  evidently 
intended  for  private  use  :  others,  if  we  may  judge  from 
the  number  of  copies  preserved,  seem  to  have  been  widely 
circulated. 

The  translations  of  Scripture  into  the  Anglo-Norman 
dialect  (the  variety  of  French  spoken  by  the  upper  classes 
in  England  in  the  ages  succeeding  the  Norman  Conquest) 
call  for  no  more  than  a  passing  notice  here.  Little,  indeed, 
is  known  of  these  productions.     It  will  be  sufficient  to  say 


12  The  Eftolish  Bible. 


^>• 


that  a  considerable  portion  of  Scripture  appears  to  have 
been  rendered  into  Anglo-Norman,  and  that  in  part  these 
translations  still  exist  in  manuscript. 

As  in  Anglo-Saxon,  so  also  in  early  English,  the  first 
essays  in  the  translation  of  Scripture  were  in  the  form  of 
metrical  paraphrases.  Among  the  manuscripts  in  the  Bod- 
leian Library  is  one  containing  a  poetical  version  of  the 
Gospels  and  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  together  with  a  com- 
mentary. What  was  the  extent  of  the  original  work  we 
cannot  tell :  the  portion  preserved  contains  about  20,000 
lines.  This  paraphrase  was  written  by  Orm  or  Ormin,  a 
monk  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine,  who  himself  gives  to 
his  poem  the  name  of  ''  Ormulum."  No  other  copy  of  this 
work  is  known  to  exist,  and  it  is  commonly  supposed  (appa- 
rently with  good  reason)  that  the  manuscript  we  possess  was 
written  by  the  author  himself.  We  have  no  certain  indica- 
tion of  the  date  of  the  "  Ormulum  : "  it  should  probably  be 
placed  late  in  the  twelfth  century,  or  early  in  the  thirteenth. 
A  few  lines  (Luke  ii.  42-44)  will  illustrate  the  writer's  style, 
and  will  also  show  that  we  are  fairly  on  English  ground.  It 
should  be  said  that  the  system  of  orthography  seems  to  be 
peculiar  to  the  author. 

And  siththenn^  o  thatt  ger^  thatt  Crist 

Wass  off  twellf  winnterr  elde, 
Thegg  comenn  inntill  Gerrsalsem 

Att  teggre  ^  Passkemesse  ; 
And  heldenn  thaer  thatt  hallghe^  tid^ 

O  thatt  Judisskenn  wise.^ 
And  Jesu  Crist  wass  thser  withth  hemm, 

Swa  summ^  the  Goddspell  kithethth.^ 
And  afFterr  thatt  te  tid  wass  gan, 

Thegg  wenndenn  fra  the  temmple  : 

1  Afterwards.  2  ij,  the  year.  ^  ^.t  their.  *  Holy. 

5  Time  (compare  "eventide")-  ^  In  the  Jewish  manner. 

'  So  as.  8  Showeth. 


Early  EnglisJi  Metrical  Paraphrases.  13 

And  ferrdenn^  towarrd  Nazarseth 

An  daggess  gang^  till  efenn  ; 
And  wenndenn^  thatt  te  Laferrd'*  Crist 

Withth  hemm  thatt  gate^  come  : 
And  he  M^ass  tha^  behinndenn  hemm 

Bilefedd^  att  te  temmple. 

In  the  same  library  is  a  large  volume  entitled  Sowlehele 
or  Saliis  AnwtcB,  containing  amongst  other  poems  a  para- 
phrase of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in  verse  :  this  also 
is  ascribed  to  some  part  of  the  twelfth  century.  Of  greater 
interest  is  a  version  of  Genesis  and  Exodus  found  in  a  MS. 
belonging  to  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge.  The 
author  is  unknown,  but  probably  lived  about  the  middle  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  following  extract  (taken  from 
Dr.  Morris's  edition)  relates  to  Gen.  xlv.  1-6  : — • 

Tho^  cam  iosep  swilc  rewthe^  upon, 
He  dede  halle  ut  the  tothere  gon,^° 
And  spac  unethes,  ^^  so  e  gret,  ^^ 
That  alle  hise  wlite  wurth  ^^  teres  wet. 
*'  Ic  am  iosep,  dredeth  gu^^  nogt. 
For  gure  helthe  or^*  hider  brogt ; 
To  ger  ben  nu  ^^  that  derthe  is  cumen, 
Get  sulen  .v.  fulle  ben  numen,^^ 
That  men  ne  sulen  sowen  ne  sheren,^^ 
So  sal  drugte^^  the  feldes  deren."^" 

The  edition  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Psalter  referred  to  above 
as  edited  by  Stevenson  for  the  Surtees  Society  also  contains 
a  Northumbrian  version  of  the  Psalms,  made  from  the  Latin, 
probably  near  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century.  As 
several  MSS.  of  this  version  survive,  we  may  fairly  infer 

1  Fared,   i.e.,    went    ^  Way,  "  Uneasily.  ^^  Yet    shall    five 


("thorough-fare,' 

'  6  Then. 

12  Wept. 

fully  be  taken. 

"  way-farer  "). 

7  Remaining. 

13  Face  became. 

18  Reap. 

'  A  day's  journey. 

8  Then. 

"  You. 

19  Drought. 

3  Weened, 

9  Such  pity  {rath). 

15  Formerly  (i?y^). 

20  Harm. 

thought. 

10  He  made  all  the 

IS  Two  years  are 

♦  Lord. 

others  go  out. 

now. 

14  The  English  Bible. 

that  it  was  widely  known.     Its  merit  will  be  seen  from  the 
subjoined  specimen : — 

PSALM  cxxi. 

1.  I  hove  mine  egheni  in  hilles  to  se 
Whethen2  sal  come  helpe  to  me. 

2.  Mi  helpe  sal  be  Laverd^  fra, 
That  maked  heven,  erthe  als-swa.4 

3.  Noght  in  stiringS  mi  fote  give  he, 
Ne  he  sal  slepe  that  yhemes  ^  the. 

4.  Loke,  noght  sal  slepe,  ne  slepe  sal  wele, 
Whilke  that-^  yhemes  Iraele. 

5-  Laverd  yhemes  the,  Laverd  in-schilderS  be 
Over  the  right-hand  of  the. 

6.  Bi  dai  noght  the  sunne  skalde  the  sal, 
Ne  the  mone  bi  night  with  al. 

7.  Laverd  fra  alle  ivel  yheme  the, 
Laverd  thi  saule  yheme  he. 

8.  Laverd  yheme  thine  in-gang  and  thine  out-gang, 
Fra  hethen,  and  in  to  werld  lang. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  fourteenth  century  appeared  many 
metrical  paraphrases  of  portions  of  Scripture,  which  it  is 
impossible  here  to  enumerate.  The  following  version  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer''  belongs  to  this  period  : — "  Vader  oure 
thet  art  ine  heuenes,  y-halged  by  thi  name  .  cominde  thi 
riche^^ .  y-worthe  thi  wil  as  ine  heuene  :  and  ine  erthe  .  bread 
oure  echedayes  :  yef  ous  to  day  .  and  uorlet  ous^^  oure 
yeldinges^^  :  ase  and  we  uorleteth  oure  yelderes^^.  and  ne 


1  Eyes. 

3  Lord. 

to    stiring  (stir-      7  He  that. 

2  Whence ;    so    he- 

*  Also. 

ring,      moving)     ^  Protector. 

then  (hence)  in 

5  So    Wycliffe  : 

thi  foot." 

verse  8. 

"Give  he  not  in 

6  Protects. 

*  specimens    of  Early   English,  by  Morris  and  Skeat  :  Part  II. 
p.  105. 

^^  Kingdom  (German,  Reich).  ^^  Let  alone. 

12  Debts,  debtors  ("yielders")- 


Eai^ly  English    Versions  of  the  Psalter.  15 

ous  led  nagt  :  into  uondinge^  .  ac  vri  ous  vram  queade^ 
zuo  by  hit." 

About  the  same  period  we  meet  with  two  versions  of  the 
Psalter,  the  earliest  versions  of  any  book  of  Scripture  in 
English  prose.  The  former  of  these  was  executed  (about 
1327)  by  William  of  Shoreham,  near  Sevenoaks  :  the  second, 
later  by  a  few  years  only,  by  Richard  Rolle,  of  Hampole, 
near  Doncaster.  Of  the  latter  many  copies  are  still  extant. 
The  subjoined  specimens  are  taken  from  the  Preface  to 
Forshall  and  Madden's  edition  of  the  Wyclifhte  versions  : — 

PS.  XXII.  (xxiii.),  shoreham's  version. 

1 .  Our  Lord  gouerneth  me,  and  nothyng  shal  defailen  to  me  ;  in  the 
stede2  of  pastm-e  he  sett  me  ther. 

2.  He  norissed  me  vp  3  water  of  fyllynge  ;  he  turned  my  soule  fram 
the  fende. 

3.  He  lad  me  vp  the  bistiges-*  of  rigtfulnes  ;  for  his  name. 

4.  For  gif -^  that  ich  haue  gon  amiddes  of  the  shadowe  of  deth  ;  Y 
shal  nougt  douten^  iuels,  for  thou  art  wyth  me. 

5.  Thy  discipline  and  thyn  amendyng  ;  conforted  me. 

6.  Thou    madest    radi   grace    in    my    sight ;     ogayns    hem"    that 
trublen  me. 

7.  Thou  makest   fatt   myn   heued  wyth  mercy  ;    and   my   drynke 
makands  drunken  ys  ful  clere. 

8.  And  thy  merci  shal  folwen  me  ;  alle  daies  of  mi  lif. 

9.  And  that  ich  wonne^  in  the  hous  of  our  Lord  ;  in    lengthe   of 
daies. 

PS.    LXXVIII.    (LXXIX.),    RICHARD    ROLLE'S   VERSION. 

1.  God,  gens^*'  come  in  thin  heritage;  thei  filed  thi  holy  tempul,  thei 
sette  Jerusalem  in  kepyng  of  appuls. 

2.  Thei  sette  the  dyande  bodyes  of  thi  seruaunts  mete  to  the  fowles 
of  the  lyft  ;^^  flesche  of  thi  halowes^^  iq  bestis  of  erthe. 

1  Uondinge,  temptation ;  queade,  evil.     Compare  Chaucer's  words 
fonde  (to  try),  qtiad  (bad). 

2  Place.  3  Upon.  *  Paths.  5  if,  6  pear.  7  Them. 

8  Making.        9  Dwell.        lo  Nations.        "  Air.        12  Saints. 


1 6  The  Enolish  Bible, 


i>' 


3.  Thei  spille  hore^  blode  as  watir  in  vmgong  of  2  Jerusalem  ;  and 
none  was  for  to  graue.3 

4.  Made  we  are  reprofe  to  oure  neghbors  ;  skomynge  and  hething'* 
to  alle  that  in  our  vmgong  are. 

5.  Howe  longe,  Lord,  shalt  thou  be  wrothe  in  ende;  kyndelt  shal  be 
thi  luf5  as  fire. 

That  these  versions  are  derived  from  the  Vulgate  may 
very  easily  be  seen,  by  comparing  them  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  translation  (the  ''  Douay  Bible  "),  which  is  avowedly 
made  from  the  Latin.  Thus  in  Ps.  xxiii.  i,  2,  5,  the  Douay 
rendering  is  as  follows  :  "  The  Lord  ruleth  me  :  and  I  shall 
want  nothing.  He  hath  set  me  in  a  place  of  pasture.  He 
hath  brought  me  up,  on  the  water  of  refreshment.  Thou 
hast  anointed  my  head  with  oil;  and  my  chalice  which 
inebriateth  me^  how  goodly  is  it ! "  The  last  clause  in 
Ps.  Ixxix.  I  stands  thus  :  "  They  have  made  Jerusalem  as  a 
place  to  keep  fruit." 

We  have  now  reached  in  our  review  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  Before  the  close  of  this  century  the 
whole  Bible  had  been  rendered  into  EngHsh  by  John 
Wycliffe  and  his  followers.  Their  labours  will  next  claim 
our  attention. 

1  Their.  2  Round  about.         3  Bury.         *  Contempt.  ^  Love. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    WYCLIFFITE    VERSIONS. 

The  most  conspicuous  name  in  the  religious  history  of 
England  during  the  fourteenth  century  is  that  of  John  de 
Wycliffe.^  He  was  born  about  the  year  1320,  near  Rich- 
mond, in  Yorkshire ;  and  died  at  Lutterworth,  on  the  last 
day  of  the  year  1384.  His  life  is  closely  connected  with 
the  University  of  Oxford,  in  connexion  with  which  he  held 
in  succession  various  important  offices :  in  1356  he  is 
Seneschal  (or  steward)  of  Merton  College,  in  136 1  Master 
of  Balliol,  in  1365  Warden  of  Canterbury  Hall,  a  founda- 
tion afterwards  merged  in  that  of  Christ  Church.  In  1374 
we  find  him  at  Bruges,  one  of  the  commissioners  sent  by 
the  king,  Edward  III.,  to  treat  with  the  Papal  Nuncio  on 
the  subject  of  "reservation  of  benefices,"  an  encroachment 
by  which  many  of  the  livings  in  England  had  been  drawn 
into  the  hands  of  the  Pope.  In  the  same  year  he  was  pre- 
sented by  the  king  to  the  rectory  of  Lutterworth,  which  pre- 
ferment he  retained  to  the  close  of  his  life.  His  last  years 
were  troubled  by  persistent  attacks  from  the  enemies  whom 
his  uncompromising  resistance  to  the  abuses  of  the  times 
had  aroused  against  him.  In  1377  he  is  summoned  before 
Convocation,  at  St.  Paul's,  to  answer  charges  of  erroneous 
teaching ;  in  the  following  year  he  appears  before  a  synod 
at  Lambeth ;  three  years  later  the  Chancellor  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford  condemns  opinions  on  the  eucharist  which 

1  Or  Wyclif,  or  Wiclif.     The  name  is  written  in  twenty  or  thirty 
different  ways. 
C 


1 8  The  English  Bible. 

were  ascribed  to  Wycliffe  and  his  followers.  Amidst  these 
assaults,  occasioned  by  his  faithful  teaching,  and  his  vehe- 
ment opposition  to  the  "  begging  friars "  (whom  he  pro- 
nounced to  be  the  "cause,  beginning,  well,  and  maintaining 
of  perturbation  in  Christendom,  and  of  all  evils  of  this 
world  "),  he  pursued  to  the  last  his  course  of  unremitting  de- 
votion to  the  work  of  teaching  and  preaching.  The  power- 
ful patronage  of  John  of  Gaunt  and  others  of  high  station 
and  great  influence  saved  Wycliffe  from  the  fierce  persecu- 
tion which  overpowered  many  of  his  adherents.  Nicholas 
de  Hereford  was  excommunicated  and  imprisoned,  and 
seems  to  have  regained  his  liberty  at  the  sacrifice  of  his 
Lollard  opinions.  Ashton  gave  way  for  a  time ;  Repingdon 
recanted,  and  became  a  persecutor  of  his  former  friends. 
John  Purvey,  who  was  Wycliffe's  associate  at  Lutterworth, 
suffered  imprisonment  in  1390;  in  1400,  terrified  by  the 
fate  of  Sautre,  who  was  burnt  alive  as  a  heretic,  he  publicly 
retracted  his  obnoxious  tenets ;  the  record  of  a  second  im- 
prisonment in  142 1  affords  evidence  that  he  rejoined  the 
party  of  which  he  had  been  the  leader.  We  must  not,  how- 
ever, dwell  on  the  fortunes  of  these  early  reformers :  it  is 
from  their  connexion  with  the  first  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  English  that  they  call  for  notice  here. 

At  this  point  several  questions  present  themselves.  Is 
there  sufficient  ground  for  believing  that  Wycliffe  translated 
the  Scriptures  into  English  ?  If  he  did,  where  is  his  trans- 
lation ?  Did  he  stand  alone  in  this  work,  or  was  it  accom- 
plished with  the  help  of  others  ?  Is  his  translation  really 
the  first  ?  These  questions  have  received  various  answers 
in  former  times,  but  there  is  now  little  room  for  serious 
difference  of  opinion. 

We  possess  two  early  versions  of  the  Bible,  closely  re- 
lated to  each  other,  and  yet  separated  by  clear  marks  of 
distinction.     It  is  certain  that  these  versions  were  made  in 


TJie   Two    Versions.  19 

the  closing  years  of  the  fourteenth  century.  As  the  art  of 
printing  was  invented  fifty  years  later,  and  not  introduced 
into  England  until  1477,  the  English  Bible  was  only  acces- 
sible in  manuscript  to  its  earliest  readers.  In  point  of  fact, 
however,  neither  of  these  versions  (which  we  shall  designate 
as  the  early  and  the  later)  ever  appeared  in  print  until  1850. 
In  Dr.  James's  "  Treatise  of  the  Corruption  of  Scripture  " 
(161 2),  many  passages  are  quoted  from  a  MS.^  of  the  later 
version,  and  the  New  Testament  in  the  same  version  was 
published  by  Lewis  (1731),  by  Baber  (18 10),  and  in 
Bagster's  English  Hexapla  (1841).  Of  the  early  version 
the  first  portion  printed  was  the  Song  of  Solomon,  given  by 
Dr.  A.  Clarke  in  the  third  volume  of  his  Commentary 
(1823) :  the  New  Testament  was  published  by  Pickering 
in  1848.  In  1850  the  Oxford  University  press  issued  a 
complete  edition  of  the  two  versions  in  four  volumes,  under 
the  title,  "  The  Holy  Bible,  containing  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  with  the  Apocryphal  Books,  in  the  earliest 
English  versions  made  from  the  Latin  Vulgate  by  John 
Wycliffe  and  his  followers ;  edited  by  the  Rev.  J.  Forshall 
and  Sir  F.  Madden."  This  noble  work,  the  fruit  of  twenty- 
two  years  of  labour,  is  the  source  of  almost  all  our  know- 
ledge on  the  subject  of  the  Wycliffite  versions.  As  many 
as  170  MSS.  were  examined  by  the  editors,  and  the  various 
readings  of  some  sixty  MSS.  are  given  throughout.  Words 
that  are  obsolete  or  obscure  are  explained  in  a  glossary 
appended  to  the  fourth  volume.  In  a  masterly  preface  the 
editors  discuss  the  whole  question  of  the  origin  and  mutual 
relations  of  the  two  versions,  and  their  main  conclusions 
have  met  with  universal  acceptance. 

We   have   designated    the   two   versions    ''  early "   and 

^  Evidently  No.  277  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  of  which  he  was  the 
first  librarian.  This  MS.  is  denoted  by  the  letter  I  in  the  Oxford 
edition. 

C2 


20  The  English  Bible. 

"  later,"  but  until  the  appearance  of  the  Oxford  edition  the 
correct  appropriation  of  these  names  was  matter  of  doubt. 
That  the  translation  which  was  first  executed  must  be 
associated  with  Wycliffe's  name  has  not  been  questioned ; 
but  the  publications  of  Lewis,  Baber,  and  Bagster,  referred 
to  above,  profess  to  contain  "  Wycliife's  Testament,"  though 
really  presenting  the  later  version.  On  what  ground,  then, 
is  that  translation  which  formerly  passed  as  the  earlier,  now 
considered  to  be  the  later  of  the  two  ?  The  evidence  is 
of  various  kinds,  but  it  will  be  sufficient  to  refer  to  that 
which  is  furnished  by  the  preface  to  this  version,  commonly 
known  as  the  General  Prologue.  This  prologue  is  of  con- 
siderable length,  occupying  a  space  equal  to  nearly  120  of 
these  pages.  The  writer  first  gives  an  abstract  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  several  books,  from  Genesis  to  2  Chronicles, 
and  forcibly  applies  the  lessons  drawn  from  the  Books  of 
Chronicles  to  the  circumstances  of  his  own  time.  Then 
follows  a  brief  notice  of  the  remaining  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  the  Apocrypha,  with  the  exception  of  the 
prophetical  books,  to  which  a  special  prologue  was  devoted. 
After  discussing  the  general  principles  of  interpretation,  the 
writer  enters  on  a  defence  of  translations  of  Scripture,  and 
concludes  with  a  very  interesting  account^  of  his  own  mode 
of  procedure.  '*  A  simple  creature,"  he  says,  "  hath  trans- 
lated the  Bible  out  of  Latin  into  English.  First  this  simple 
creature  had  much  travail,  with  divers  fellows  and  helpers, 
to  gather  many  old  Bibles  and  other  doctors  and  common 
glosses,  and  to  make  one  Latin  Bible  somedeal  [partly] 
true  ;  and  then  to  study  it  anew,  the  text  with  the  gloss  and 
other  doctors  as  he  might  get,  and  specially  Lire  [Lyra]  on 
the  Old  Testament,  that  helped  full  much  in  this  work  ; 
the  third  time  to  counsel  with  old  grammarians  and  old 
divines,  of  hard  words  and  hard  sentences,  how  they  might 
best  be   understood   and   translated  ;    the   fourth  time  to 


Prologue  to  the  Later   Version.  21 


translate  as  clearly  as  he  could  to  the  sentence  [sense],  and 
to  have  many  good  fellows  and  cunning  at  the  correcting  of 
the  translation."  He  shows  that  "in  translating  into  Eng- 
lish, many  resolutions  can  make  the  sentence  open."  For 
"the  master  reading,  I  stand,"  we  may  write  "while  [or 
"  if,"  &c.]  the  master  readeth,  I  stand ;"  "  saying"  may  be 
changed  into  "  and  saith  "  or  "  that  saith  /'  "  which  runneth  " 
into  "and  he  runneth."  Instead  of  translating  literally 
Dominum  forinidabu?it  adversarii  ejus,  i  Sam.  ii.  lo  ("the 
Lord  his  adversaries  shall  dread  "),  we  may  say  "  the  adver- 
saries of  the  Lord  shall  dread  him ;"  arescentibus  hommibus 
prce  timore,  Luke  xxi.  26,  may  be  expressed  by  "and  men  shall 
wax  dry  for  dread."  Those  who  find  faults  in  this  trans- 
lation are  intreated  to  alter  it  into  the  true  sense  of  Holy 
Writ ;  but  the  critic  is  warned  first  to  examine  truly  his 
Latin  Bible,  for  "  no  doubt  he  shall  find  full  many  Bibles  in 
Latin  full  false,  if  he  look  at  many,  namely  [especially]  new; 
and  the  common  Latin  Bibles  have  more  need  to  be  cor- 
rected, as  many  as  I  have  seen  in  my  life,  than  hath  the 
English  Bible  late  translated."  His  concluding  words  are 
memorable :  "  By  this  manner,  with  good  living  and  great 
travail,  men  can  come  to  true  and  clear  translating,  and  true 
understanding  of  Holy  Writ,  seem  it  never  so  hard  at  the 
beginning.  God  grant  to  us  all  grace  to  know  \^ell  and 
keep  well  Holy  Writ,  and  suffer  joyfully  some  pain  for  it  at 
the  last  !     Amen." 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  writer  of  this  prologue  refers  to 
a  former  translation  into  English  which  stood  in  need  of 
correction,  and  gives  clear  indications  of  the  changes  which 
must  be  made  in  order  to  transform  a  sentence  literally 
rendered  into  one  that  runs  smoothly  and  presents  a  clear 
sense.  On  comparing  the  two  versions  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  we  find  that  in  the  passages  referred  to,  and  in  a 
multitude  of  other  places,  the  renderings  differ  in  the  very 


22  The  EnzHsk  Bible. 


«b' 


particulars  specified  above  ;  one  version  being  characterised 
by  close  adherence  to  the  Latin  construction,  the  other 
showing  a  true  appreciation  of  English  idiom.  When  we 
add  that  the  more  Hteral  version  "  is  found  in  those  MSS. 
which  are  the  earHer  in  point  of  date,"  and  that  "these 
MSS.  are  comparatively  rare,"  ^  it  will  hardly  be  doubted 
that  this  version  is  the  earlier  of  the  two,  or  that  the  other 
translation  is  the  work  of  the  writer  of  the  General  Pro- 
logue. It  is  not  necessary  to  pursue  this  question  further, 
or  to  examine  the  grounds  on  which  a  contrary  opinion  was 
formerly  held  by  those  who  were  not  in  possession  of  the 
evidence  now  before  us. 

The  next  question  is  that  of  authorship.  Both  versions 
are  anonymous.  The  peril  to  which  a  translator  of  Scrip- 
ture was  exposed  rendered  such  concealment  strictly  neces- 
sary. We  can  hardly  doubt,  however,  that  the  later  version 
was  executed  by  Purvey.  His  close  association  with  Wy- 
clifife,  his  learning,  and  his  eminence  amongst  the  Lollards 
after  Wycliffe's  death,  first  led  to  the  conjecture  that  the 
work  was  from  his  hand ;  but  the  most  convincing  proof 
is  furnished  by  the  General  Prologue,  which  agrees  remark- 
ably, both  in  style  and  in  sentiment,  with  writings  which 
can  be  proved  to  be  Purvey's.  Still  less  hesitation  can  be 
felt  in  associating  Wycliffe  with  the  earlier  work.  On  this 
point  friends  and  foes  are  at  one  in  their  testimony.  Henry 
Knighton,  who  wrote  his  Chronicle  within  twenty  years  of 
Wyclifife's  death,  complains  that  John  Wycliffe  had  trans- 
lated the  Gospel  into  the  EngUsh  tongue,  and  made  it  more 
plain  to  the  laity  and  to  women  than  it  formerly  was  even 
to  the  learned  amongst  the  clergy,  thus  throwing  the  Gospel 
pearl  before  swine.  From  John  Huss,  the  Bohemian  re- 
former (writing  in  141 1),  we  learn  that  it  was  then  said  by 
the  English  that  Wycliffe  had  translated  the  whole  Bible 
^  Preface  to  Oxford  edition,  p.  xxii. 


Authorship  of  Earliej'   Version.  23 

into  their  vernacular  tongue.  To  Wycliffe  then  must  be 
assigned  the  post  of  honour  in  connexion  with  this  noble 
undertaking.  Earnestly  maintaining  that  "  Christian  men 
ought  much  to  travail  night  and  day  about  text  of  Holy 
Writ,  and  namely  [especially]  the  Gospel  in  their  mother 
tongue,"  he  could  not  rest  until  he  had  placed  in  the  hands 
of  his  unlettered  countrymen  the  Law  of  God  and  "the 
Gospel  of  Christ's  life." 

The  translation,  however,  is  not  the  work  of  one  hand. 
A  manuscript  in  the  Bodleian  Library,  containing  a  large 
portion  of  the  Old  Testament  and  Apocrypha  in  the  earlier 
version,  breaks  off  suddenly  after  the  second  word  of  Baruch 
iii.  20,  a  note  being  added  to  the  effect  that  here  ended  the 
translation  of  Nicholay  de  Hereford.  This  manuscript  is 
copied  from  another,  also  preserved  in  the  Bodleian  Library, 
which  ends  in  the  same  abrupt  manner  at  the  same  place. 
"There  is  no  doubt,"  say  the  Oxford  editors,  "that  this 
MS.  is  the  original  copy  of  the  translator."  ^  Other  willing 
labourers  may  have  been  engaged  on  the  earHer  portion  of 
the  Old  Testament;  internal  evidence  makes  it  not  im- 
probable that  this  really  was  the  case.  The  many  resem- 
blances between  the  New  Testament  and  the  later  portion 
of  the  Old  would  seem  to  prove  that  Hereford's  unfinished 
work  was  completed  by  Wycliffe  himself.  Hence  our 
general  conclusion  must  be  that  the  Scriptures  were  ren- 
dered from  Latin  into  English,  about  the  year  1382,  by 
Wycliffe  and  Hereford,  aided  possibly  by  others  of  the  same 
party;  and  that  after  Wychffe's  death,  probably  in  1388, 
there  appeared  a  revision  of  the  earher  version,  executed  by 
Purvey,  with  the  help  of  "  many  good  fellows." 

1  The  abrupt  termination  of  the  work  is  supposed  to  have  been 
occasioned  by  the  citation  of  Hereford  to  appear  before  the  synod  in 
London  in  1382,  and  his  subsequent  departure  from  England. 


24 


The  English  Bible. 


The  subjoined  specimens  will    show   the  character  of 
each  version : — 

2   SAM.    XXIII.    3 — 5. 


EARLIER    VERSION. 

3.  He  seyde,  God  of  Yrael  to 
me  hath  spokyn,  the  strong  of 
Yrael,  the  lordshipper  of  men, 
the  rigtwise  lordshipper  in  the 
dreed  of  God. 

4.  As  ligt  of  morwtide,^  spring- 
inge  the  sunne  eerli  with  out  clow- 
dis,  gliterith  ;  and  as  bi  reynes  bu- 
riouneth^  the  eerbe  of  the  erthe. 

5.  And  not  so  mych  is  myn 
hows  anentis^  God,  that  euerlast- 
ynge  couenaunt  he  shulde  goo  yn 
with  me,  stable  in  alle  thingis  and 
wamysshit ;  ^  forsothe  al  myn 
heelth  and  al  wil,  ne  there  is  eny 
thing  of  it,  that  ne  buriowneth.  - 


LATER  VERSION. 

3.  Dauid  seide,  God  of  Israel 
spak  to  me,  the  stronge  of  Israel, 
the  iust  Lord  of  men,  is  Lord  in 
the  drede  of  God.  - 

4.  As  the  ligt  of  the  morew- 
tid,^  whanne  the  sunne  risith 
eerli,  is  brigt  with  out  cloudis  ; 
and  as  an  erbe  cometh  forth  of 
tlie  erthe  bi  reynes. 

5.  And  myn  hows  is  not  so 
greet  anentis^  God,  that  he  schulde 
make  with  me  euerlastynge  coue- 
naunt, stidefast  and  maad  strong 
in  alle  thingis  ;  for  al  myn  helthe 
hangith  of  him,  and  al  the  wille 
that  is,  al  my  desir,  goith  in  to 
hym,  and  no  thing  is  therof,  that 
makith  not  fruyt. 


ST.    JOHN   VII.    14 — ] 


EARLIER  VERSION. 

14  Forsothe  now  the  feeste 
day  medlinge,  or  goynge  bitwixe, 
Jhesu  wente  vp  in  to  the  temple, 
and  taugte. 

15  And  the  Jewis  wondriden, 
seyinge,  Hou  kan^  this  man 
lettris,  sithen^  he  hath  not  lemyd  ? 

16  Jhesu  answeride  to  hem, 
and  seide.  My  doctrine  is  not 
myn,  but  his  that  sente  me. 

^  Morning-time. 

2  Germinates  (French,  bourgeon,  a  bud). 

3  With. 


LATER   VERSION. 

14  But  whanne  the  myddil 
feeste  dai  cam,  Jhesus  wente  vp 
in  to  the  temple,  and  taugte. 

15  And  the  Jewis  wondriden, 
and  seiden,  Hou  can  5  this  man 
lettris,  si  then  6  he  hath  not  lerned? 

16  Jhesus  answerde  to  hero, 
and  seide.  My  doctryne  is  not 
myn,  but  his  that  sente  me. 

■*  Strengthened. 
5  Knoweth. 
*  Since. 


The   Versions  Compared.  25 

17  If  ony  man  schal  wilnei  to  17  If  ony  man  wole  do  his 
do  his  wille,  he  schal  knowe  of  the  wille,  he  schal  knowe  of  the 
techinge,  wher  it  be  of  God,  wher  techyng,  whethir  it  be  of  God,  or 
I  speke  of  my  silf.  Y  speke  of  my  silf. 

18  He  that  spekith  of  himself  18  He  that  spekith  of  hym  silf 
sekith  his  owne  glorie  ;  forsoth  he  sekith  his  own  glorie  ;  but  he  that 
that  sekith  the  glorie  of  him  that  sekith  the  glorie  of  hym  that  sente 
sente  him,  this  is  sothfast,^  and  hym,  is  sothefast,^  and  vnrigtwis- 
vnrigtfulnesse  is  not  in  him.  nesse  is  not  in  hym. 

PSALM    XC.    (LXXXIX.)   9,    lO.       LATER   VERSION. 

For  alle  oure  daies  han  failid  ;  and  we  han  failid  in  thin  ire.  Oure 
geris^  schulen  bithenke,'^  as  an  yreyn  ;^  the  daies  of  oure  geeris  ben  in 
the  seuenti  geeris.  Forsothe,  if  fourescoor  geer  ben  in  mygti  men  ;  and 
the  more  tyme  of  hem  is  trauel  and  sorewe.  For  myldenesse  cam 
aboue ;  and  we  schulen  be  chastisid. 

COLOSSIANS    I.    13 — 17.      LATER   VERSION. 

Which  delyueride  vs  fro  the  power  of  derknessis,  and  translatide  in 
to  the  kyngdom  of  the  sone  of  his  louyng,  in  whom  we  han  agenbiyng'' 
and  remyssioun  of  synnes.  Which  is  the  ymage  of  God  vnuysible,  the 
first  bigetun?  of  ech  creature.  For  in  hym  alle  thingis  ben  maad,  in 
heuenes  and  in  erthe,  visible  and  vnuysible,  ether  trones,  ether  domina- 
ciouns,  ether  princehodes,  ethir  poweris,  alle  thingis  ben  maad  of  nought 
bi  hym,  and  in  hym,  and  he  is  bifor  alle,  and  alle  thingis  ben  in  hym. 

The  reader  will  not  fail  to  recognise  in  these  specimens 
the  characteristic  differences  between  the  two  versions. 
Thus,  for  "  springinge  the  sunne  eerli "  (Hereford),  Purvey 
writes,  "  whanne  the  sunne  risith  eerli ; "  for  "  now  the 
feeste  day  medlinge,"  he  writes,  "  whanne  the  myddil  feeste 
dai  cam."  It  is  also  evident  that  Hereford's  renderings  are 
altered  by  the  reviser  much  more  freely  than  those  of 
Wycliffe,  whose  style  is  clearer  and  more  flowing.  The 
frequent  occurrence  of  the  word  forsooth  has  often  been 
remarked  on  as  a  characteristic  of  the  early  version  (and  the 

1  Will.  2  True.  a  Years.  *  Meditate.  s  Spider. 

6  "Again-buying,"  redemption.        '  Begotten. 


26  The  Eii^lish  Bible. 


^>' 


first  part  of  the  later)  ;  in  the  first  chapter  of  Matthew,  for 
example,  Wyclifife  uses  this  word  more  than  forty  times. 
Purvey  not  once.  In  the  passages  cited  above  there  occur 
two  explanatory  notes,  in  2  Sam.  xxiii.  5  (Purvey)  and  John 
vii.  14  (Wycliffe).  These  "textual  glosses"  are  not  uncom- 
mon in  the  books  translated  by  Wycliffe.  Purvey  admits 
them  freely  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  very  rarely  (see 
(Matt.  xiv.  I  ;  Heb.  ix.  3,  &c.)  in  the  New.  Hereford 
seems  to  have  intended  to  exclude  such  explanations 
altogether,  but  occasionally  they  are  found  in  almost  all  the 
copies  of  his  version  (see  Lev.  xi.  17,  22,  29,  30).  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  Song  of  Solomon  he  goes  very  far  in 
the  way  of  interpretation,  actually  apportioning  the  contents 
to  various  speakers.  Thus  in  chap.  i.  the  first  verse  is  intro- 
duced by  '■''The  Chirche  of  the  corny ?tg  of  Crist  spekith 
seiende;''  after  "mouth  "we  read,  ^'' The  vois  of  the  Fader  ;'' 
and  after  ver.  2,  ^'■The  vois  of  the  Chirche.''^  All  these  notes 
were  removed  by  Purvey. 

A  striking  feature  of  the  later  version  is  the  introduction 
of  short  comments  in  the  margin.  In  the  Prologue  to  the 
Old  Testament,  Purvey  tells  us  that  "  where  the  Hebrew, 
by  witness  of  Jerome,  of  Lire,  and  other  expositors,  dis- 
cordeth  from "  the  Latin,  he  has  set  in  the  margin  "  what 
the  Hebrew  hath,  and  how  it  is  understood  in  some  places." 
These  "  glosses,"  some  critical  and  some  explanatory,  are 
very  unequally  distributed.  They  are  most  numerous  in  the 
Song  of  Solomon,  Ecclesiastes,  Proverbs,  Job,  the  early 
chapters  of  Isaiah,  Ecclesiasticus,  Wisdom,  and  the  former 
half  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  ;  in  the  Prophetical  Books 
and  in  the  Gospels  we  find  but  few.  Though  many  of  these 
annotations  are  absent  from  a  large  number  of  copies,  we 
can  hardly  doubt  that  they  are  (in  the  main)  from  Purvey's 
hand ;  it  is  only  natural  that  they  should  often  be  neglected 
by   transcribers.      The   names   of  Jerome   and   Augustine 


The  Later   Version.  27 

occur  frequently  in  these  glosses  j^  those  of  Chrysostom, 
Ambrose,  Isidore,  Hilary,  occasionally.  Purvey's  chief 
authority,  however,  is  the  writer  referred  to  above  as  "  Lire." 
Nicholas  de  Lyra  was  the  most  celebrated  commentator 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  distinguished  for  his  knowledge 
of  both  Hebrew  and  Greek.  A  very  large  number  of  the 
"  marginal  glosses  "  are  subscribed  with  his  name.  In  the 
Book  of  Proverbs,  for  example,  the  common  copies  of  the 
Vulgate  contain  nearly  twenty  verses  or  sentences  not  found 
in  the  Hebrew  text ;  in  several  of  these  we  find  the  note, 
"This  vers  is  not  in  Ebreu.  Lire  here."  The  first  four 
verses  of  St.  Luke,  however,  are  omitted  without  remark  in 
the  later  version,  and  in  almost  all  the  copies  of  the  earlier. 
The  following  are  examples  of  the  explanatory  notes  : — 

Exod.  xii.  40  (430  years).  **Rekenynge  tho  geris^  in  whiche  they 
dwelliden  as  pilgryms  in  the  loond  of  Canaan,  and  of  Egipt,  and  of 
FiHsteys.     Lire  here. ' ' 

Lev.  V.  I  (sinneth  and  heareth).  *'This  word  and  is  seat  for  that 
is.     Lire,  and  the glos  here.^^ 

Lev.  xi.  5  (a  "cirogrille  "3).  "That  is,  a  beeste  ful  of  thomes, 
and  more 4  than  an  irchoun.^     In  Ebru  it  is  a  cony." 

Psalm  ii.  "^  glos.  The  secounde  salm,  that  hath  no  title  in 
Ebreu,  and  in  Jeromes  translacioun,  was  maad  of  Dauith,  as  the 
postlis^  witnessen  in  iiij  chapitre  of  Dedis."' 

Prov.  viii.  22.      "Here  Salamon  spekith  of  wisdom  vnmaad,  that 

1  Other  authorities  often  cited  are  "the  Gloss"  (or  "the  common 
Gloss"),  and  "the  Gloss  interlineary. "  The  former  is  the  Glossa 
ordinaria,  a  compilation  by  Walafrid  Strabo  (about  a.d.  840),  much 
esteemed  and  widely  circulated  in  the  Middle  Ages.  The  latter  was 
the  work  of  Anselm  of  Laon  (about  a.d.  iioo). 

2  Years. 

3  Choerogrilhts  (probably  meaning  either  hedgehog  ox  porcupive)  is  the  word  by 
which  the  Vulgate  renders  the  Hebrew  shaphan,  translated  "  coney  "  in  our  version. 

*  Larger.  ^  Urchin,  hedgehog.  ^  Apostles. 

7  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles. 


28  The  English  Bible. 

is,   of  the  secunde  persoon'e  in  Trinyte,  which  is  the  kyndlyi  Sone  of 
God,  with  oute  big)^nn}Tig  and  ende.     .     .     .  Lire  here. " 

2  Cor.  V.  21  (sin).     "That  is,  sacrifice  for  synne.     Austyn."" 
I  John  i.   I  (That  thing  that  was,  &c.).     *'  Thus  the  lettre  schulde 
be  ioyned ;  we  tellen  to  gou  that  thing,  &c.  ;  that  is,  Goddis  kindely  ^ 
sone,  that  was  bom  without  bigynnyng  of  the  fadir.     Lire  here.'' 

In  contents  and  arrangement  the  Wycliffite  versions 
differ  from  our  ordinary  Bibles.  The  books  which  we  know 
as  the  I  St  and  2nd  Books  of  Esdras  (otherwise  called  the 
3rd  and  4th,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  being  i  and  2  Esdras) 
were  rejected  by  Pm-vey;  the  former  is  included  in  the 
early  version.  The  apocryphal  additions  to  Daniel  and 
Esther  are  in  each  case  placed  with  the  canonical  book; 
the  Prayer  of  Manasses  is  added  to  2  Chronicles ;  Tobit 
and  Judith  stand  before  Esther,  Wisdom  and  Ecclesiasticus 
before  Isaiah,  Baruch  (including  the  Epistle  of  Jeremiah) 
before  Ezekiel,  i  and  2  Maccabees  after  the  Minor  Prophets. 
In  the  New  Testament,  St.  Paul's  Epistles  precede  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.  The  Oxford  edition  of  the  Wycliffite  ver- 
sions contains  the  spurious  Epistle  to  the  Laodiceans,  as 
being  in  several  copies  of  the  later  version ;  this  Epistle, 
however,  was  rejected  both  by  Wycliffe  and  by  Purvey. 
Many  of  the  books  of  Scripture  have  short  prefaces,  also 
rendered  from  the  Latin.  In  the  Old  Testament  Purvey 
is  contented  with  the  General  Prologue  and  a  brief  intro- 
duction to  the  Prophets.  In  some  copies  of  his  New  Testa- 
ment several  books  have  additional  "  prologues,"  evidently 
written  by  himself. 

The  fundamental  defect  of  the  Wycliffite  versions  is 
that  they  are  derived  from  the  Latin,  not  from  the  original 
Hebrew  and  Greek.  The  translators  were  not  able  even  to 
consult  the  original  texts.  What  they  profess  to  do  they  do 
well,  representing  the  Latin  with  great  care  and  with  general 

^  By  nature,  own  ("  God's  own  Son").  ^  Augustine. 


The  Lathi  Origmal.  29 

accuracy.  Where  the  text  before  them  was  faulty,  the  error 
was  faithfully  reflected  in  their  work.  We  have  heard  Pur- 
vey's  complaint  of  the  inaccuracy  of  the  common  Latin 
Bibles  ;  and  though  he  sought  to  remedy  the  evil  by  col- 
lation of  many  copies,  an  examination  of  his  renderings 
shows  that  he  was  not  fortunate  in  meeting  with  manuscripts 
of  any  great  excellence.  The  weakest  part  of  the  Vulgate, 
and  of  all  translations  made  from  it,  is  the  Book  of  Psalms. 
Jerome's  translation  of  this  book  from  the  Hebrew  never 
attained  currency  ;  the  old  and  familiar  version  from  the 
Greek,  revised,  but  not  materially  changed,  maintained 
its  ground.  A  comparison  of  the  authorised  version  of 
Ps.  xc.  9,  10,  with  the  quotation  given  above  (page  25)  will 
show  how  far  the  Latin  (faithfully  represented  in  almost 
every  particular  in  Purvey's  translation)  may  depart  from  the 
sense  of  the  original.  From  verse  9  it  seems  hard  to  extract 
any  clear  meaning ;  and  yet  the  English  reader  was  in 
no  worse  plight  than  the  great  Augustine  himself,  who 
understood  the  Psalmist's  words  in  no  other  sense.  But 
this  dependence  on  the  Vulgate  was  not  without  some  com- 
pensating advantages.  The  English  Bible,  at  this  its  first 
appearance,  was  seen  to  be  identical  with  the  "common 
Bible "  received  by  the  whole  Western  Church :  a  version 
taken  from  the  language  of  the  Jews  or  of  the  Greeks  might 
in  those  days  have  been  suspected  of  some  grievous  taint. 
The  translator  moved  freely  amongst  the  well-known  words 
and  phrases,  and  his  familiarity  with  the  Latin  text  left  him 
at  liberty  to  expend  his  strength  on  the  English  :  hence  the 
force  and  the  homeliness  so  often  apparent  in  the  style.  In 
the  New  Testament,  at  all  events,  the  Vulgate  is  often 
nearer  to  the  sense  of  the  sacred  writers  than  are  many 
of  the  later  manuscripts  of  the  Greek  Testament.  In  Col. 
i.  14,  for  example  (see  page  25),  Purvey's  text  agrees  with 
that  of  the  best  Greek  manuscripts,  the  words  "  through  his 


30  TJie  English  Bible, 

blood "  having  accidentally  come  in  from  Eph.  i.  7  :  in 
the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts,  containing  only  twenty-six 
verses,  there  are  as  many  as  ten  examples  of  a  similar  kind, 
though  of  smaller  importance.  Whilst,  then,  it  is  very  plain 
that  the  version  of  a  version  is  necessarily  placed  at  great 
disadvantage,  that  the  Latin  language  is  incapable  of  repre- 
senting the  beauty  and  fulness  of  the  Greek,  and  that  the 
Vulgate  is  in  some  places  disfigured  by  serious  errors, 
we  may  thankfully  acknowledge  that  the  derivation  of  the 
first  English  Bible  from  the  Latin  was  productive  of  good. 
Whether  Wycliffe  and  his  coadjutors  made  any  use  of 
the  earlier  translations  of  parts  of  Scripture  it  is  hard  to 
say ;  we  have  no  direct  evidence  bearing  on  the  point,  but 
the  question  has  not  been  fully  examined.  It  is  of  greater 
importance  to  determine  the  degree  of  influence  exerted  by 
these  versions  on  the  work  of  later  translators.  It  is  very 
easy  to  find  coincidences  of  expression  between  Purvey's 
translation  and  our  Authorised  Version.  When  the  structure 
of  the  Greek  is  simple  (see  John  vii.  14 — 18,  quoted  above, 
but  especially  John  xiv.),  many  consecutive  verses  may  read 
as  if  taken  from  our  own  familiar  Bible  :  in  most  instances, 
however,  the  agreement  may  be  traced  to  the  influence 
of  the  Latin  version,  faithfully  followed  in  the  one  case, 
diligently  consulted  in  the  other.  It  would  be  premature 
to  say  more  at  this  point :  we  shall  return  to  the  subject 
in  connexion  with  Tyndale's  translation.  Whatever  may  be 
thought  of  the  amount  of  influence  directly  exerted  by  the 
Wychffite  versions,  no  one  can  doubt  that  their  indirect 
effect  has  been  great,  both  on  the  general  style  of  Scrip- 
ture translations  and  on  the  development  of  the  English 
language. 

For  this  work  was  not  hidden  in  the  cloister  or  buried  in 
the  libraries  of  the  learned.  "  The  new  version  was  eagerly 
sought  after,  and  read.     Copies  passed  into  the  hands  of  all 


Multiplication  of  Copies.  31 

classes  of  the  people.  Even  the  sovereign  himself  and  the 
princes  of  the  blood  royal  did  not  disdain  to  possess  them. 
The  multiplication  of  copies  must  have  been  rapid.  Nearly 
150  manuscripts,  containing  the  whole  or  parts  of  Purvey's 
Bible,  the  majority  of  which  were  written  within  the  space 
of  forty  years  from  its  being  finished,  have  been  examined. 
.  .  .  Others  are  known  to  have  existed  within  the  last 
century ;  and  more,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  have  escaped 
inquiry ;  how  many  have  perished  it  is  impossible  to  cal- 
culate. But  when  it  is  remembered  that  from  the  first 
the  most  active  and  powerful  measures  were  taken  to 
suppress  the  version ;  that  strict  inquisition  was  made  for 
the  writings  and  translations  of  Wycliffe,  Hereford,  Ashton, 
and  Purvey;  that  they  were  burnt  and  destroyed  as  most 
noxious  and  pernicious  productions  of  heretical  depravity ; 
and  that  all  who  were  known  to  possess  them  were  exposed 
to  severe  persecution ;  and  then  if  there  be  taken  into 
account  the  number  of  manuscripts  which  in  the  course 
of  four  or  five  centuries  have  been  destroyed  through 
accident  or  negligence  ;  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose  that 
we  have  now  but  a  small  portion  of  those  which  were 
originally  written."^ 

One  question  still  remains.  Have  we  good  grounds  for 
beheving  that  Wycliffe's  version  is  the  earliest  of  English 
Bibles  ?  On  this  subject  a  few  words  must  suffice.  We 
have  testimony  to  the  existence  of  versions  of  a  still  earlier 
date.  In  a  tract,^  which  cannot  have  been  written  much 
later  than  the  year  1400,  preserved  in  the  first  edition 
of   Foxe's  Acts  and  Monuments^  we  read  of  a  "  Bible  in 

1  Preface  to  Forshall  and  Madden's  edition  of  The  Wydiffite 
Visions,  p.  xxxii. 

2  A  compendious  old  Treatise,  shewing  how  xve  ought  to  have  the 
Scriptures  in  English.  See  Foxe,  Acts  and  MonumentSy  vol.  iv.,  pp. 
671—676  (ed.  Cattley  :  1837). 


32  The  English  Bible. 

English  of  Northern  speech,"  which  "seemed  t'o  be  two 
hundred  years  old."  Sir  Thomas  More  (1532)  declares  that 
the  whole  Bible  was  translated  into  the  English  tongue 
by  virtuous  and  well-learned  men  long  before  Wycliffe's 
days.  In  the  preface  to  the  Authorised  Version  (161 1)  our 
translators  speak  of  John  Trevisa  (who  died  about  1397)  as 
having  translated  the  Scriptures  (or  the  Gospels)  into  English 
in  the  time  of  Richard  II. ;  Fuller,  writing  in  1655,  ascribes 
to  the  same  "  godly  and  learned  servant  of  God  "  a  transla- 
tion of  the  whole  Bible.  On  the  other  hand,  Wycliffe  and 
his  followers  evidently  knew  of  no  version  prior  to  their 
own.  Desirous  in  every  way  to  strengthen  their  position, 
they  could  not  possibly  have  neglected  the  most  convincing 
of  all  answers  to  those  who  accused  them  of  introducing  the 
pernicious  novelty  of  an  English  translation  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  Bible  two  hundred  years  old  can  only  have  been  Anglo- 
Saxon.  Where  mistake  was  so  easy  (copies  of  Purvey's 
version  having  been  ascribed  to  a  much  earlier  date),  we 
cannot  rely  very  confidently  on  unsupported  testimony 
of  such  a  kind  as  More's.  There  are  indeed  translations  of 
portions  of  Scripture  of  a  character  very  similar  to  Wycliffe's 
(as  of  the  first  three  Gospels,^  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles,^  &c.), 
but  these  belong  to  Wycliffe's  age,  and  were  probably 
executed  by  some  of  his  party.  These  efforts  resemble 
those  of  an  earlier  age  :  interesting  and  valuable  monuments 
of  learning  and  private  zeal,  they  cannot  disturb  the  place  of 
the  great  work  which  makes  an  epoch  as  well  in  the  literary 
as  in  the  religious  history  of  our  country. 

1  With  the  Latin  text  and  a  commentary,  in  the  University  Library 
and  in  the  Library  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge. 

2  Also  in  the  Library  of  Corpus  Christi  College. 


CHAPTER   III. 

A    CENTURY    OF    PREPARATION. 

The  interval  between  the  death  of  Wycliffe  and  the  birth  of 
Tyndale  is  nearly  a  hundred  years.  Amongst  the  events 
of  this  century  are  the  revival  of  learning  in  Europe,  the 
invention  of  printing,  the  discovery  of  a  new  world.  It  is 
impossible  to  pass  suddenly  from  one  period  to  the  other. 
If  we  would  understand  and  appreciate  the  work  of  Tyndale, 
his  coadjutors,  and  his  successors,  we  must  give  attention  to 
the  age  of  preparation  and  to  the  influences  amidst  which 
they  lived  and  laboured.  The  field  that  opens  before  us  is 
as  extensive  as  it  is  inviting.  We  must  confine  ourselves  as 
far  as  possible  to  a  notice  of  those  persons,  books,  or  events 
which  clearly  stand  connected  with  the  history  of  the  English 
Bible. 

The  fruit  of  Wycliffe's  labours  did  not  immediately 
iappear.  The  active  persecutors  of  the  Lollard  party  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  from  Henry  IV.  a  statute  which  pro- 
scribed all  books  teaching  the  new  doctrines,  and  threatened 
heretics  with  the  stake.  A  few  years  later  (1408)  Wycliffe's 
translations  were  expressly  condemned  as  unauthorised  and 
incorrect.  As  a  party  the  Lollards  could  not  make  head 
against  their  foes,  but  the  leaven  of  their  teaching  silently 
spread  through  all  classes  of  society ;  and  when  an  age  of 
greater  freedom  dawned,  men  saw  that  the  toil  and  suffering 
of  the  persecuted  had  not  been  endured  in  vain.  But  it  was 
in  Bohemia  that  the  work  of  the  English  reformer  exerted 
the  most  immediate  effect.     John  Huss  avowed  his  ardent 

D 


34  The  English  Bible. 

sympathy  with  Wycliffe,  and  boldly  preached  many  of  his 
doctrines.  The  Council  of  Constance  (a.d.  14 14),  assembled 
for  the  reformation  of  the  Church  and  the  removal  of  abuses, 
condemned  all  Lollard  writings,  decreed  that  Wycliffe's 
bones  should  be  disinterred  and  burnt,  and  sentenced  Huss 
to  the  stake.  The  death  of  Huss  drove  Bohemia  into  revolt, 
and  kindled  a  furious  war.  The  minds  of  men  were  stirred 
with  unwonted  excitement :  if  outward  inquiry  was  checked 
by  force,  the  spirit  of  eager  questioning  remained. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  language  of 
Greece  was  almost  an  unknown  tongue  in  Western  Europe. 
A  few  scholars,  such  as  Petrarch,  had  sought  to  inspire  a 
taste  for  Grecian  literature,  but  with  little  success.  At  this 
time,  however,  various  causes  concurred  to  bring  about 
increased  intercourse  between  the  Christians  of  the  East 
and  the  West.  The  sudden  collapse  of  the  Eastern  Empire 
in  1453,  when  Constantinople  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Turks  under  Mohammed  II.,  is  the  epoch  from  which  the 
revival  of  Greek  learning  in  Europe  must  be  dated.  Exiled 
from  their  country,  the  scholars  of  Greece,  carrying  with 
them  the  treasures  of  their  literature,  sought  a  home  in  the 
West,  especially  in  Italy,  where  Pope  Nicolas  V.  in  Rome 
and  Cosmo  del'  Medici  in  Florence  rivalled  each  other  in 
the  patronage  of  learning.  From  this  time  the  study  of 
Greek  spread  rapidly.  In  1458  a  pubHc  teacher  of  the 
language  was  appointed  in  the  University  of  Paris. 

Meanwhile  a  revolution  yet  more  wonderful  was  pre- 
paring in  Germany  by  the  invention  of  printing.  The 
history  of  this  invention  is  involved  in  obscurity,  but  it 
seems  certain  that  before  1440  the  use  of  movable  types 
had  been  discovered  by  Gutenberg  of  Mayence  (or  Mentz). 
About  1455  the  first  printed  work  (of  any  magnitude)  was 
issued  from  the  press  of  Gutenberg  and  Fust  in  the  same 
city.     This  work  was  a  magnificent  edition  of  the  Latin 


The  Invention  of  Printing.  35 

Bible,  commonly  known  as  the  Mazarin  Bible,^  because  a 
copy  was  found  in  the  Ubrary  of  Cardinal  Mazarin.  Within 
twenty  years  of  this  date  the  invention  had  found  a  home 
in  more  than  a  hundred  European  cities,  and  by  the  end 
of  the  century  more  than  a  thousand  presses  were  at  work. 
The  first  book  which  is  explicitly  stated  to  have  been 
printed  in  England  is  dated  1477.  In  the  same  year  was 
first  printed  (probably  at  Bologna)  a  portion  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible,  the  Psalter.  In  1488  the  entire  Hebrew  Bible  was 
printed  at  Soncino,  near  Cremona.  This  edition  was 
followed  within  a  brief  period  by  many  others,  some  of 
which  leave  little  to  be  desired  as  editions  of  the  ordinary 
text.  The  Greek  Testament  was  not  printed  until  15 14. 
The  earliest  Greek  Grammar  (by  Constantine  Lascaris) 
appeared  in  1476  ;  the  earliest  Lexicon  in  1480.  The  first 
Hebrew  Grammar  that  appeared  in  print  (1503)  was  written 
by  PelHcan,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five ;  three  years  later  a 
Grammar  and  Lexicon  by  the  celebrated  Reuchlin  were 
given  to  the  world.  It  has  been  calculated  that  more  than 
ten  thousand  editions  of  books  or  pamphlets  were  published 
between  1470  and  1500 ;  of  the  Latin  Bible  alone  as  many 
as  ninety-one  editions  had  been  issued  before  the  close  of 
the  fifteenth  century. 

England  was  slow  in  welcoming  the  new  learning. 
Greek  was  first  taught  in  the  University  of  Oxford  in 
1 49 1,  by  William  Grocyn,  who  had  studied  in  Italy. 
Besides  Grocyn,  Oxford  possessed  a  noble  band  of  scholars, 
Thomas  Linacre,  William  Latimer,  Thomas  More  (after- 
wards Lord  Chancellor),  also  John  Colet  and  William  Lily, 
the  founder  and  the  first  head-master  of  St.  Paul's  School ; 

*  At   the    sale    of    the    ** Perkins    Library"    at    Hanworth    Park 
(June  6th,  1873),  a  copy  of  the  Mazarin  Bible,  on  vellum,  was  sold  for 
;^3,40o;  another,  on  paper,  for  ^^2,690.     Copies  maybe  seen  in  the 
libraries  of  the  British  Museum,  Lambeth  Palace,  &c. 
D2 


36  The  English  Bible. 

a  few  years  later  Cambridge  could  boast  of  Thomas  Smith, 
John  Cheke,  and  Roger  Ascham.  In  1497  Erasmus  of 
Rotterdam,  then  thirty  years  of  age,  came  to  Oxford, 
attracted  by  the  fame  of  its  teachers  of  Greek.  Twelve 
years  later,  after  studying  in  various  cities  of  Italy,  he 
returned  to  England,  and  accepted  a  professorship  of 
Divinity  at  Cambridge.  Here  he  remained  till  15 14, 
teaching  theology  and  Greek,  preparing  an  edition  of  the 
works  of  Jerome,  and  engaged  in  diligent  study  of  the 
Greek  Testament.  In  15 16,  at  the  instance  of  the  printer 
Froben  of  Basle,  he  undertook  an  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament,  which  was  published  the  same  year,  with  a 
dedication  to  Pope  Leo  X.  Unfortunately  this  work, 
the  first  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament  given  to  the 
world,  was  executed  with  great  haste,  and  for  the  most 
part  was  derived  from  inferior  manuscripts  of  the  text. 
From  the  second  edition  (pubHshed  in  15 19),  in  which 
many  errors  were  corrected,  Luther  made  his  translation 
of  the  New  Testament;  the  third  (1522)  was  used  by 
Tyndale.  The  Greek  Testaments  in  ordinary  use  at  this 
day  agree  in  the  main  with  that  of  Erasmus.  In  15 18 
appeared  the  first  portion  of  Erasmus's  Latin  paraphrases 
of  the  Books  of  the  New  Testament,  which  Milman  does 
not  hesitate  to  call  the  most  important  book  even  of 
that  day,  and  which  thirty  years  later  "  was  almost  legally 
adopted  by  the  Church  of  England,"^  Edward  VI.  en- 
joining that  the  paraphrases  upon  the  Gospels  in  English 
should  be  set  up  in  some  convenient  place  in  all  churches. 

In  1500  a  university  was  founded  at  Alcala,  near 
Madrid,  by  Cardinal  Ximenes,  Archbishop  of  Toledo. 
Here  was  prepared  and  published,  through  the  exertions 
and  at  the  expense  of  the  Cardinal,  the   famous  Complu- 

^  Milman,  History  of  Latin  Chiistianity,  vi.    p.  624. 


Early  Printed  Bibles.  37 

tensian  Polyglott,  in  six  folio  volumes.  This  Polyglott 
contains  the  original  texts  of  Scripture,  together  with  the 
Septuagint,  the  Vulgate,  the  Chaldee  paraphrase  of  the 
Pentateuch  (with  a  Latin  translation),  Greek  and  Hebrew 
Grammars,  and  a  Hebrew  vocabulary.  It  derives  its  name 
from  Complutum,  the  ancient  name  of  Alcala.  The  volume 
containing  the  Greek  Testament  was  printed  in  15 14, 
but  the  publication  of  the  work  was  not  authorised  until 
1520.  An  edition  of  the  Septuagint  (and  Greek  Testa- 
ment), known  as  the  Aldine  edition,  was  printed  at  Venice 
in  15 18. 

The  study  of  the  original  languages  of  Scripture  had 
commenced  in  earnest,  but  still  it  was  through  Latin 
translations  that  the  sacred  books  were  mainly  accessible 
even  to  men  of  education  and  learning.  The  wide  cir- 
culation of  the  Vulgate  in  this  age  has  been  already 
noticed.  Next  in  importance  stand  the  Latin  versions 
executed  during  the  first  half  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Sanctes  Pagninus,  a  Dominican,  pubHshed  in  1528  a  Latin 
translation  of  the  whole  Bible,  much  used  and  highly 
prized  on  account  of  the  literalness  with  which  the  Hebrew 
text  is  rendered ;  this  is  the  first  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  in  which  the  division  into  verses  is  given.  In 
1535  appeared  a  valuable  translation  of  the  Old  Testament 
by  Sebastian  Miinster,  a  Hebraist  of  considerable  repu- 
tation. Leo  Juda,  the  friend  and  coadjutor  of  the  Swiss 
Reformer  Zwingli,  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  engaged 
on  a  Latin  version  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  work 
was  taken  up  by  the  other  Biblical  scholars  whom  Zwingli 
had  drawn  to  Zurich,  Pellican  (author  of  the  earliest 
Hebrew  Grammar,  and  of  Commentaries  both  on  the 
Old  and  on  the  New  Testament),  Bibliander,  and  others. 
It  was  printed  by  Froschover  at  Zurich  in  1543.  This 
translation   is    less    literal    than    those    of    Pagninus    and 


38  The  E7tglish  Bible, 

Munster:  the  authors  are  more  intent  on  the  preservation 
of  the  sense,  than  on  verbal  accuracy  in  the  rendering. 
For  the  New  Testament,  Erasmus's  elegant  Latin  version, 
which  accompanied  his  Greek  text,  was  very  extensively 
used.  The  whole  Bible  was  rendered  into  Latin  with  care 
and  elegance  by  Castalio  in  1551;  the  New  Testament 
by  Beza  in  1557. 

But  the  study  of  the  Sacred  Word  was  no  longer  to 
be  confined  to  men  of  learning.  On  every  hand  we 
observe  tokens  of  an  importunate  desire  on  the  part  of 
the  common  people  to  possess  the  Scriptures  in  the  lan- 
guages of  ordinary  life.  The  history  of  vernacular  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible  in  other  countries  of  Europe  resembles 
that  which  we  have  traced  in  our  own.  As  a  rule,  poetical 
paraphrases  of  the  historical  books  (such  as  the  Heliand,  a 
Gospel  history  of  the  ninth  century  in  the  old  Saxon 
language)  or  of  the  Psalms,  interhnear  glosses  (see  page 
10),  translations  of  those  portions  of  Scripture  which 
were  most  frequently  read  in  the  services  of  the  Church, 
prepared  the  way  for  more  systematic  and  complete  under- 
takings. As  early  as  the  fourth  century,  however,  the 
Goths  on  the  lowxr  Danube  received  the  Bible  in  their 
own  language  from  the  hands  of  Ulfilas,  their  bishop,  who 
translated  it  from  the  Greek.  In  the  ninth  century  Cyril 
and  Methodius,  sent  by  the  Byzantine  emperor  into 
Moravia  as  missionaries,  translated  the  Scriptures  into  the 
Slavonic  language.  Three  hundred  years  later,  the  Gospels 
and  several  other  books  of  Scripture  were  rendered  into 
one  of  the  dialects  spoken  in  the  south  of  France,  through 
the  zeal  of  Peter  Waldo,  of  Lyons.  The  first  French  Bible 
(1294)  was  a  version  of  Comestor's  Scholastic  History^  a 
free  paraphrase  of  the  historical  books  made  about 
1 1 70.  At  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century,  we 
find   the   Scriptures   translated  (from   the   Latin)  into  the 


Earliest  Prifited  Versions  in  Ezirope.  39 

languages   of   Poland,    Bohemia,    and   Germany,    as    well 
as  England. 

In  our  own  country,  "  the  first  attempt  at  giving  forth 
any  portion  of  the  Scriptures  in  print  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Exposition  of  the  Seve?i  Penitential  Psalms,  by  John 
Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  which  was  published  in  the 
year  1505."^  The  Continental  presses,  on  the  other  hand, 
almost  in  the  earliest  years  of  their  existence,  teem  with 
editions  of  the  Bible  in  different  languages.  Before  1474 
four  editions  of  the  German  Bible  had  been  given  to 
the  world  :  ten  more  were  issued  during  the  forty  years 
which  followed.  The  Italian  Bible  of  Malermi  (or  Mal- 
herbi)  was  printed  at  Venice  in  147 1  :  before  the  end 
of  the  century  nine  editions  had  been  issued.  A  French 
New  Testament  appeared  in  1478  :  the  whole  Bible  fol- 
lowed in  1487.  In  1522  there  were  in  circulation  printed 
versions  of  Scripture,  in  whole  or  in  part,  in  six  languages 
(besides  German,  Italian,  and  French),  viz.,  Danish,  Dutch, 
Bohemian,  Slavonic,  Russian,  and  the  dialect  of  Spanish 
spoken  in  Valencia. 

The  appearance  of  Luther's  version  constitutes  an  epoch 
in  the  history  of  this  subject  The  influence  which  this 
version  exerted  directly  was  very  considerable,  forming  as 
it  did  the  basis  on  which  many  other  translations  were 
executed ;  but  the  impulse  which  it  gave  to  the  study  of 
the  original  texts  of  Scripture  (the  early  versions  having 
been  derived  from  the  Vulgate)  was  perhaps  of  even 
greater  importance.  The  Swedish  New  Testament  and 
Bible  (1526,  1541)  were  avowedly  taken  from  Luther's  : 
translations  into  the  languages  of  Holland,  Denmark,  and 
Iceland  were  made  on  a  similar  principle.     Roman  Catholic 

*  Historical  Account,  prefixed  to  Bagster's  English  Hexapla,  p.  37. 
The  Penitential  Psalms  are  Psalms  vi.,  xxxii.,  xxxviii.,  li.,  cii.,  cxxx., 
cxliiL 


40  TJie  English  Bible. 

versions  appeared  in  rapid  succession  in  Germany,  most  of 
them  betraying  very  distinctly  the  influence  of  the  transa- 
ction they  were  intended  to  supplant. 

In  France  a  complete  Bible  was  published  in  1530/ 
translated  (mainly  from  the  Vulgate)  by  Le  Fevre  (or 
Faber),  the  first  of  the  French  reformers  ;  on  this  all  sub- 
sequent versions  have  been  more  or  less  dependent.  Five 
years  later  appeared  another  translation,  by  Olivetan,  a 
cousin  of  John  Calvin.  After  receiving  many  corrections 
at  various  times  from  Calvin  and  others,  this  translation  was 
subjected  to  thorough  revision  by  the  College  of  Pastors 
and  Professors  at  Geneva  in  1588  :  the  Bibles  which  now 
stand  highest  in  the  esteem  of  French  Protestants  are 
further  revisions  of  the  same  work,  by  Martin  (1707)  and 
Osterwald  (1744).  The  Italian  version  of  Bruccioli  was 
pubHshed  at  Venice  in  1532,  and  was  shortly  followed  by 
other  translations,  executed  by  Roman  Catholics.  The 
Spanish  New  Testament,  translated  from  the  Greek  by 
Enzinas,  was  published  at  Antwerp  in  1543;  the  entire 
Bible,  by  De  Reyna,  appeared  in  1569.  Before  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  therefore,  the  Scriptures  were 
circulated  throughout  almost  the  whole  of  Europe,  in  the 
language  of  each  nation. 

These  facts,  most  interesting  in  themselves,  would 
require  remark  in  any  history  of  the  English  Bible,  in 
consequence  of  the  influence,  general  and  special,  which 
the  labours  of  Continental  translators  exercised  on  our  own 
country.  One  version,  however,  cannot  be  dismissed  with 
a  passing  notice.  In  15  21  Luther,  returning  from  the  Diet 
of  Worms,  by  which  he  had  been  denounced  as  a  heretic, 
was  arrested  by  friendly  hands,  and  carried  off  to  the  castle 
of  the  Wartburg,  near   Eisenach,   in   Saxe-Weimar.     Here 

^  Having  previously  appeared  in  six  parts  {1523 — 1528).  See  the 
Caxton  Celebration  Catalogue,  p.  114. 


Ltithers  Bible.  41 

he  remained  in  retirement  for  ten  months.  The  fruit  of 
this  enforced  withdrawal  from  active  hfe  was  the  German 
New  Testament,  which  was  pubHshed  at  Wittenberg,  in 
September,  1522,  in  a  thin  foUo  volume.  The  title-page 
contains  the  name  neither  of  translator  nor  of  printer.  The 
Pentateuch  and  the  poetical  books  of  the  Old  Testament 
speedily  followed,  the  Prophets  at  longer  intervals :  it  was 
not  until  1534  that  the  whole  Bible  (including  the  Apocry- 
pha) was  issued  from  the  press.  In  this  its  earliest  form 
the  work  seems  to  have  been  executed  by  Luther  himself, 
with  but  slight  and  occasional  assistance  from  friends.  His 
stock  of  books  to  aid  in  so  arduous  an  undertaking  was 
scanty.  His  Hebrew  Bible  (of  the  edition  printed  at  Brescia, 
in  1494)  is  still  preserved  in  the  Royal  Library,  Berlin :  his 
Greek  Testament  was  Erasmus's  second  edition.  The 
Septuagint,  the  Vulgate,  the  Latin  translations  of  Pagninus, 
and  (afterwards)  of  Miinster,  a  few  Latin  Fathers,  the  Glossa 
Ordinaria,  and  the  Commentaries  of  Lyra,^  were  all  the  aids 
at  his  command.  Many  editions  of  the  separate  parts  of 
the  German  Bible  were  called  for  before  the  completion  of 
the  work  :  the  numerous  alterations  introduced  show  Luther's 
zeal  for  the  improvement  of  the  translation.  With  the  help 
of  his  friends,  Melanchthon,  Bugenhagen,  Creuziger,  and 
others,  he  travelled  over  the  whole  ground  afresh,  and  a 
new  edition,  thoroughly  revised,  was  completed  in  1541. 
Before  1580  thirty-eight  editions  had  been  issued  from 
the  press. 

The  translations  of  Luther's  Bible  into  other  European 
languages  have  been  already  noticed.  Two  revisions  or 
modifications,  however,  require  attention,  as  having  exerted 
an  independent  influence  oft  one  or  more  of  our  English 
versions.  These  are  the  Bibles  of  Zurich  and  Worms.  Soon 
after  Luther's  Testament  appeared,  a  translation  (if  so  it  can 
1  See  page  27. 


42  The  English  Bible. 

be  called)  into  the  German-Swiss  dialect  was  published  at 
Zurich.  Impatient  at  the  slowness  with  which  Luther's 
work  progressed,  Zwingli  and  his  associates  resolved  that 
they  would  themselves  supply  the  remaining  portions.  The 
translation  of  the  Prophets,  issued  in  1524,  is  the  work  of 
"  the  preachers  of  Zurich ; "  that  of  the  Apocrypha  is  from 
the  hand  of  Leo  Juda.  The  whole  Bible  appeared  in  1530. 
The  second  edition,  dated  153 1,  contains  an  excellent 
introduction,  probably  from  the  pen  of  Zwingli  himself. 
The  Worms  Bible  (1529)  is  a  work  of  the  same  kind,  known 
in  Germany  as  a  "combined  Bible." 

Having  thus  hastily  noticed  the  work  of  other  labourers 
in  the  same  field,  we  are  now  at  liberty  to  follow,  without 
interruption,  the  course  of  our  English  translators.  Of  these 
the  first,  both  in  time  and  in  importance,  is  William 
Tyndale. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

WILLIAM    TYNDALE. — L 

William  Tyndale,  "the  faithful  minister  and  constant 
martyr  of  Christ,  was  born  about  the  borders  of  Wales, 
and  brought  up  from  a  child  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
where  he,  by  long  continuance,  grew  up  and  increased  as 
well  in  the  knowledge  of  tongues  and  other  liberal  arts,  as 
especially  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  whereunto  his 
mind  was  singularly  addicted.  Insomuch  that  he,  lying 
then  at  Magdalen  Hall,  read  privily  to  certain  students  and 
fellows  of  Magdalen  College  some  parcel  of  divinity,  in- 
structing them  in  the  knowledge  and  truth  of  the  Scriptures. 
Whose  manners  also  and  conversation,  being  correspondent 
to  the  same,  were  such  that  all  they  which  knew  him  reputed 
and  esteemed  him  to  be  a  man  of  most  virtuous  disposition 
and  of  life  unspotted.  Thus  he,  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
increasing  more  and  more  in  learning  and  proceeding  in 
degrees  of  the  schools,  spying  his  time,  removed  from 
thence  to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  where  after  he  had 
likewise  made  his  abode  a  certain  space,  being  now  further 
ripened  in  the  knowledge  of  God's  word,  leaving  that  uni- 
versity also  he  resorted  to  one  Master  Welch,  a  knight  of 
Gloucestershire." 

Such  is  the  brief  account  which  John  Foxe  gives ^  of  a 
period  comprising  m.ore  than  two-thirds  of  Tyndale's  life. 
Unhappily,  we  can  add  very  little  to  fill  up  the  outline  here 
given.     Even  the  time  and  place  of  Tyndale's  birth  are  not 

1  Acis  and  Monuments^  vol.  v.,  p.  114. 


44  The  English  Bible. 

known  with  certainty.  The  most  probable  date  appears  to 
be  1484,  the  year  following  that  in  which  Luther  was  born ; 
the  place  was  either  North  Nibley  or  (more  probably)  Slym- 
bridge,^  near  Berkeley,  in  Gloucestershire.  As  little  known 
are  the  details  of  his  university  career.  We  can  hardly 
suppose  that  he  would  proceed  to  Oxford  earlier  than  1503. 
At  that  time,  and  for  two  years  later,  Colet  was  still  dehver- 
ing  lectures  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul;  and  we  cannot 
doubt  that  Tyndale  was  one  of  the  many  eager  listeners 
to  these  fresh  and  vivid  expositions.  The  reasons  which 
induced  Tyndale  to  leave  Oxford  for  Cambridge  we  can 
only  conjecture.  On  the  one  hand,  he  may  very  probably 
have  been  attracted  by  the  teaching  of  Erasmus ;  on  the 
other,  he  may  have  seen  the  necessity  of  avoiding  a  threat- 
ened storm.  Colet  himself  was  suspected  of  heresy ;  and 
his  disciple,  who  occupied  himself  in  reading  "  to  students 
and  fellows  some  parcel  of  divinity,"  would  naturally  be 
looked  upon  with  distrust.  The  account  of  Tyndale's  resi- 
dence in  the  family  of  Sir  John  Walsh,  of  Little  Sodbury 
(a  village  in  South  Gloucestershire),  we  take  from  the  first 
edition  of  Foxe's  Acts  and  Monu7?ients,  since  the  narrative, 
as  there  given,^  bears  marks  of  being  immediately  derived 
from  one  of  Tyndale's  friends. 

"  Master  Tyndale  being  in  service  with  one  Master 
Welch,  a  knight  who  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  Robert 
Pointz,  a  knight  dweUing  in  Gloucestershire,  the  said  Tyn- 
dale being  schoolmaster  to  the  said  Master  Welch's  children, 
and  being  in  good  favour  with  his  master,  sat  most  commonly 
at  his  own  table,  which  kept  a  good  ordinary,  having  resort 

^  See  the  admirable  biography  of  Tyndale  by  the  late  Rev.  R. 
Demaus,  pp.  5,  6. 

2  Reprinted  by  Arber  in  the  Preface  to  his  Facsimile  of  the  Grenville 
Fragment,  pp.  8 — 10.  Mr.  Demaus  (p.  44)  is  convinced  that  Foxe's 
informant  was  Richard  Webb,  afterwards  a  servant  of  Latimer. 


Tyndales  Early  Life.  45 

'to  him  many  times  divers  great  beneficed  men,  as  abbots, 
deans,  archdeacons,  and  other  divers  doctors  and  learned 
men.  Amongst  whom  commonly  was  talk  of  learning,  as 
well  of  Luther  and  Erasmus  Roterodamus  as  of  opinions  in 
the  Scripture.  The  said  Master  Tyndale,  being  learned, 
and  which  had  been  a  student  of  divinity  in  Cambridge, 
and  had  therein  taken  degree  of  school,  did  many  times 
therein  show  his  mind  and  learning,  wherein  as  those  men 
and  Tyndale  did  vary  in  opinions  and  judgments,  then 
Master  Tyndale  would  show  them  on  the  book  the  places, 
by  open  and  manifest  Scripture.  The  which  continued  for 
a  certain  season  divers  and  sundry  times,  until  in  the  con- 
tinuance thereof  these  great  beneficed  doctors  waxed  wear}-, 
and  bare  a  secret  grudge  in  their  hearts  against  Master  Tyn- 
dale. .  .  .  Then  did  he  translate  into  English  a  book 
called,  as  I  remember,  Enchiridion  Militis  CJuistiani}  The 
which  being  translated  he  delivered  to  his  master  and  lady. 
And  after  they  had  read  that  book,  those  great  prelates  were 
no  more  so  often  called  to  the  house,  nor  when  they  came 
had  the  cheer  nor  countenance  as  they  were  wont  to  have, 
the  which  they  did  well  perceive,  and  that  it  was  by  the 
means  and  incensing  of  Master  Tyndale,  and  at  the  last 
came  no  more  there.  After  that,  when  there  was  a  sitting 
of  the  bishop's  commissary  or  chancellor,  and  warning  was 
given  to  the  priests  to  appear.  Master  Tyndale  was  also 
warned  to  be  there.  And  whether  he  had  knowledge  by 
their  threatening,  or  that  he  did  suspect  that  they  would  lay 
to  his  charge,  it  is  not  now  perfectly  in  my  mind  ;  but  thus 
he  told  me,  that  he  doubted  their  examinations,  so  that  he 
in  his  going  thitherwards  prayed  in  his  mind  heartily  to  God 
to  strengthen  him  to  stand  fast  in  the  truth  of  His  word ;  so 
he  being  there  before  them,  they  laid  sore  to  his  charge, 
saying  he  was  a  heretic  in  sophistry,  a  heretic  in  logic,  a 
^  Written  by  Erasmus  in  1 501. 


46  The  English  Bible. 

heretic  in  his  divinity,  and  so  continueth.  But  they  said 
unto  him,  'You  bear  yourself  boldly  of  the  gentlemen  here 
in  this  country,  but  you  shall  be  otherwise  talked  with.' 
Then  Master  Tyndale  answered  them :  *  I  am  content  that 
you  bring  me  where  you  will  into  any  country  within  Eng- 
land, giving  me  ten  pounds^  a  year  to  live  with,  so  you  bind 
me  to  nothing  but  to  teach  children  and  preach.'  Then  had 
they  nothing  more  to  say  to  him,  and  thus  he  departed  and 
went  home  to  his  master  again. 

"  There  dwelt  not  far  off  an  old  doctor  that  had  been 
arch-chancellor  to  a  bishop,  the  which  was  of  old  familiar 
acquaintance  with  Master  Tyndale,  who  also  favoured  him 
well,  to  whom  Master  Tyndale  went  and  opened  his  mind 
upon  diver§  questions  of  the  Scriptures,  for  he  durst  boldly 
open  to  him  his  mind.  That  ancient  doctor  said,  *  Do  you 
not  know  that  the  Pope  is  the  very  antichrist  which  the 
Scripture  speaketh  of?  but  beware  what  ye  say,  for  if  you 
shall  be  perceived  to  be  of  that  opinion  it  will  cost  you  your 
life ; '  and  said,  '  I  have  been  an  officer  of  his,  but  I  have 
given  it  up,  and  defy  him  and  all  his  works.'  And  soon 
after  Master  Tyndale  happened  to  be  in  the  company  of  a 
learned  man,  and  in  communing  and  disputing  with  him 
drove  him  to  that  issue  that  the  learned  man  said, 
*We  were  better  be  without  God's  law  than  the  Pope's.' 
Master  Tyndale  hearing  that,  answered  him,  '  I  defy 
the  Pope  and  all  his  laws ; '  and  said,  '  If  God  spare 
my  life,  ere  many  years  I  will  cause  a  boy  that  driveth 
the  plough  shall  know  more  of  the  Scripture  than  thou 
doest.' " 

It   is  very  interesting  to  mark  the  dawn  of  Tyndale's 
great  purpose  of  translating  the  Scriptures  into  the  language 
of  the  people.     The  words  last  quoted  may  have  been  sug- 
gested by  a  striking  passage  in  the  "  Exhortation  "  prefixed 
*  Equal  to  J^iio  or £1^0  at  the  present  day. 


Tyndale's   Translation  Projected.  47 

by  Erasmus  to  his  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament.^  "  I 
would,"  says  the  great  scholar  of  the  Reformation  age,  "  that 
all  private  women  should  read  the  Gospel  and  Paul's 
Epistles.  And  I  wish  that  they  were  translated  into  all 
languages,  that  they  may  be  read  and  known,  not  only  by 
the  Scotch  and  Irish,  but  also  by  the  Turks  and  Saracens. 
Let  it  be  that  many  would  smile,  yet  some  would  receive  it. 
I  would  that  the  husbandman  at  the  plough  should  sing 
something  from  hence,  that  the  weaver  at  his  loom  should 
sing  something  from  hence,  that  the  traveller  might  beguile 
the  weariness  of  his  journey  by  narrations  of  this  kind." 
But  even  before  he  listened  to  Erasmus  this  subject  had 
been  in  Tyndale's  thoughts.  It  is  remarkable  that  almost 
the  only  reminiscence  of  his  childhood  is  connected  with 
the  labour  of  his  life.  In  his  work  on  the  Obedietice  of  a 
Christiaii  Man?  in  the  course  of  an  argument  that  with 
special  propriety  may  the  Bible  be  translated  into  English, 
because  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  tongues  agree  so  much 
more  with  EngUsh  than  with  Latin,  he  says,  "  Yea,  and 
except  my  memory  fail  me,  and  that  I  have  forgotten  what 
I  read  when  I  was  a  child,  thou  shalt  find  in  the  English 
chronicle  how  that  king  Adelstone  (Athelstane)  caused  the 
Holy  Scripture  to  be  translated  into  the  tongue  that  then 
was  in  England,  and  how  the  prelates  exhorted  him 
thereto." 

It  soon  became  evident  to  Tyndale  that  his  work  could 
not  be  accomplished  at  Sodbury.  ''When  I  was  so  tur- 
moiled,"  he  says,^  "in  the  country  where  I  was,  that  I 
could  no  longer  there  dwell,  I  this  wise  thought  in  myself : 

1  Historical  Account  (in  the  English  Hexapla),  pp.  43,  44. 

2  Tyndale's  Doctrinal  Treatises  (Parker  Society),  p.  149.     See  also 
Demaus,  p.  11. 

3  In  the  Preface  to  the  Book  of  Genesis  (1531).     See  Arber,  Fac- 
simile, pp.  16,  17. 


48  TJie  English  Bible. 

This  I  suffer  because  the  priests  of  the  country  be  unlearned. 
.  .  .  As  I  this  thought,  the  Bishop  of  London  ^  came  to 
my  remembrance,  whom  Erasmus.  .  .  praiseth  exceed- 
ingly for  his  great  learning.  Then  thought  I,  if  I  might 
come  to  this  man's  service  I  were  happy.  And  so  I  gat  me 
to  London,  and  through  the  acquaintance  of  my  master 
came  to  Sir  Harry  Gilford,  the  king's  grace's  controller,  and 
brought  him  an  oration  of  Isocrates  which  I  had  trans- 
lated out  of  Greek  into  English,  and  desired  him  to  speak 
unto  my  lord  of  London  for  me,  which  he  also  did,  as  he 
showed  me,  and  willed  me  to  write  an  epistle  to  my  lord, 
and  to  go  to  him  myself,  which  I  also  did.  .  .  Where- 
upon my  lord  answered  me,  his  house  was  full,  he  had  more 
than  he  could  well  find ;  and  advised  me  to  seek  in  London, 
where  he  said  I  could  not  lack  a  service.  And  so  in  London 
I  abode  almost  one  year,  .  .  .  and  understood  at  the 
last,  not  only  that  there  was  no  room  in  my  lord  of  London's 
palace  to  translate  the  New  Testament,  but  also  that  there 
was  no  place  to  do  it  in  all  England." 

It  was  probably  in  1523  that  Tyndale  came  to  London. 
During  the  year  of  anxious  waiting  he  found  a  home  in  the 
house  of  Humphry  Monmouth,  a  cloth-merchant  of  London, 
who  proved  himself  now  and  in  after  years  Tyndale's  zealous 
and  loving  friend.  When  at  last  compelled  to  renounce  the 
hope  of  translating  the  New  Testament  in  England,  Tyndale 
did  not  hesitate  to  give  up  his  country  in  favour  of  his  work ; 
but  in  May,  1524,  he  left  England — never  to  return. 

Of  Tyndale's  movements  during  the  first  year  of  his  Con- 
tinental life  we  have  very  scanty  information.  It  appears 
certain  that  he  arrived  in  Hamburg  in  May,  1524;  that  he 
was  in  the  same  city  in  the  early  spring  of  the  following 
year ;  and  that  a  few  months  later  he  was  superintending 
the  printing  of  his  New  Testament  at  Cologne.  It  is  very 
1  Tunstal,  who  succeeded  to  the  see  of  London  in  1522. 


Tyndale  in  Gennany.  49 

possible  that  Tyndale  remained  in  Hamburg  for  a  year,  en- 
gaged in  the  preparation  of  his  translation  :  the  fact  that 
Hamburg  did  not  then  possess  a  printing-press  ^  can  hardly 
be  regarded  as  conclusive  against  this  view.  On  the  other 
hand,  we  have  contemporary  evidence  that  Tyndale  visited 
Luther  about  this  time.  Sir  Thomas  More  asserts  that 
"  Tyndale,  as  soon  as  he  got  him  hence,  got  him  to  Luther 
straight ;"  that  at  the  time  of  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  he  was  with  Luther  at  Wittenberg ;  and  that 
the  confederacy  between  him  and  Luther  was  a  thing  well 
known.  Tyndale,  in  reply,  simply  denies  the  last  charge, 
that  he  was  confederate  with  Luther.  It  is  needless  to 
quote  other  statements  to  the  same  effect.  Clear  and  defi- 
nite as  they  appear  to  be,  they  may  perhaps  be  explained 
away,  as  suggested  by  the  prevailing  tendency  to  associate 
all  work  similar  to  Luther's  with  this  Reformer  himself  On 
the  whole,  however,  it  is  safer  to  accept  the  evidence  of 
contemporaries,  and  to  assume  that  either  in  1524  or  in 
1525  Tyndale  spent  some  time  at  Wittenberg.  Another 
question  which  has  been  much  discussed  is  of  considerable 
interest.  Was  any  portion  of  the  New  Testament  published 
in  the  course  of  this  year  }  There  is  some  reason  to  believe 
that  Tyndale  gave  to  the  world  his  translation  of  the  first 
two  Gospels  before  the  middle  of  1525  ;  but  the  evidence 
adduced  is  somewhat  uncertain,  and  the  verdict  must  be 
"  not  proven." 

We  reach  firm  ground  in  the  autumn  of  1525.  Our 
information  is  derived  from  an  enemy,  who  triumphantly 
records  his  success  in  embarrassing  and  partially  frustrating 
Tyndale's  work.  In  1525,  John  Dobenek,  better  known 
as  Cochlseus,  was  living  in  exile  at  Cologne,  engaged  in 
literary  labours.  Becoming  intimate  with  the  printers  of 
Cologne,  he  heard  them  boast  at  times,  in  their  cups,  that 

^  Demaus,  Life  of  Tyndale^  p.  92. 
E 


50        *  The  English  Bible. 

England  would  soon  become  Lutheran.  He  heard,  more- 
over, that  in  Cologne  were  lurking  two  Englishmen,  learned 
and  eloquent  men,  well  skilled  in  languages ;  but  all  his 
efforts  to  gain  a  sight  of  these  strangers  were  without  avail. 
At  last,  plying  one  of  the  printers  with  wine,  Cochlseus  drew 
from  him  the  secret  of  the  Lutheran  design  on  England. 
The  two  Englishmen  were  apostates^  who  had  learnt  the 
German  language  at  Wittenberg,  and  had  rendered  Luther's 
Testament  into  English.  This  English  Testament  they  had 
brought  to  Cologne,  that  it  might  be  multipUed  by  the 
printers  into  many  thousands,  and,  concealed  among  other 
merchandise,  might  find  a  way  into  England.  So  great  was 
their  confidence,  that  they  had  sought  to  have  6,000  copies 
printed  ;  but  through  the  timidity  of  the  printers  only  3, coo 
were  issued  from  the  press.  These  copies,  in  quarto,  had 
already  been  printed  as  far  as  the  letter  K  (that  is,  as  far 
as  the  tenth  sheet,  probably  a  little  beyond  the  end  of  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel).  The  expense  was  met  by  English  mer- 
chants, who  had  also  engaged  to  convey  the  work  secretly 
into  England,  and  to  diffuse  it  widely  in  that  country.  On 
receiving  this  information,  Cochlseus  lost  no  time  in  reveal- 
ing the  plot  to  Hermann  Rinck,  a  nobleman  of  Cologne, 
well  known  to  Henry  VIH.  and  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
Having  convinced  himself  of  the  correctness  of  the  account 
received,  Rinck  went  to  the  senate,  and  obtained  an  inter- 
dict of  the  work.  On  this  the  two  Englishmen,  carrying  off 
the  printed  sheets,  fled  hastily  from  Cologne,  and  went  up 
the  Rhine  to  Worms.  Their  enemies  could  do  no  more 
than  send  letters  to  Henry,  Wolsey,  and  Fisher,  warning 
them  of  the  danger  at  hand.^ 

.  1  The  second  "apostate"  was  William  Roye,  who  for  some  time 
acted  as  Tyndale's  amanuensis. 

2  The  letters  of  Cochlasus  in  the  original  Latin,  with  a  translation  by 
Mr.  Anderson,  are  given  by  Arber,  Facsimile,  pp.  18 — 24. 


Tyjidales   Testament  in  England.  5 1 

Worms  was  a  city  in  every  way  suitable  for  Tyndale's  pur- 
pose, Cologne  was  devoted  to  the  Romish  faith  ;  Worms 
was  all  Lutheran  :  both  cities  enjoyed  considerable  inter- 
course with  England.  In  comparative  quiet  Tyndale  now 
pursued  and  completed  his  work,  carrying  it  farther  than  he 
had  at  first  designed.  The  edition  commenced  by  Quentel, 
the  Cologne  printer,  was  in  quarto :  at  Worms  Tyndale 
not  only  completed  this  edition,  but  also  brought  out  an 
edition  in  octavo.^  Of  each  of  these  editions,  which  will 
be  described  in  detail  hereafter,  3,000  copies  were  printed. 
No  copy  that  we  possess  contains  the  title-page,  but  we 
know  on  Tyndale's  own  authority^  that  the  work  was  issued 
without  the  translator's  name. 

The  Testaments  reached  England  probably  in  the  spring 
of  1526.  Cochlseus  was  not  the  only  one  who  gave  notice 
of  their  coming.  Lee,  the  king's  almoner  (afterwards  Arch- 
bishop of  York),  wrote  to  Henry  in  December,  1525,  that, 
according  to  certain  information  received  by  him  while 
passing  through  France,  "  an  Englishman,  at  the  solici- 
tation and  instance  of  Luther,  with  whom  he  is,  hath 
translated  the  New  Testament  into  English,  and  within  few 
days  intendeth  to  arrive  with  the  same  imprinted  in  Eng- 
land." There  was  no  lack  of  willingness  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities  to  take  this  warning,  but  we  have  no  record  of 
any  public  action  until  the  autumn  of  1526.  We  hear  then 
of  a  meeting  of  bishops  to  deliberate  on  the  measures  to 
be  adopted.  Our  account  is  taken  from  a  poem  by  Roye, 
Tyndale's   former   companion,    which    contains    "A    brefe 

^  See  Canon  Westcott's  History  of  the  English  Bible  (ed.  2),  pp. 
32,  33  ;  Arber,  pp.  26,  27,  65.  (>(>.  It  may  now  be  considered  certain 
that  the  Worms  printer  was  P.  Schoeffer,  son  of  the  great  printer  of 
that  name,  who  was  in  partnership  with  Fust. 

2  See  his  Parable  of  the    Wicked  AIamj?ion,  in  his  Works,  vol.  i., 
p.  37  (Parker  Society). 
E2 


52  The  English  Bible, 

Dialoge  betwene   two   prestes  servauntes,  named  Watkyn 
and  Jeffraye^:" — 

^''Jef.  But  nowe  of  Standisshe-  accusacion 
Brefly  to  make  declaracion, 

Thus  to  the  Cardinall  he  spake : 
*  Pleaseth  youre  honourable  Grace, 
Here  is  chaunsed  a  pitious  cace, 

And  to  the  Churche  a  grett  lacke. 
The  Gospell  in  oure  Englisshe  tonge, 
Of  ^  laye  men  to  be  red  and  songe, 

Is  nowe  hidder  come  to  remayne. 
Which  many  heretykes  shall  make, 
Except  youre  Grace  some  waye  take 

By  youre  authorite  hym  to  restrayne. ' 


Wat.  But  what  sayde  the  Cardinall  here  at  ? 
fef.  He  spake  the  wordes  of  Pilat, 

Sayinge,  *  I  fynde  no  fault  therin.* 
Howe  be  it,  the  bisshops  assembled, 
Amonge  theym  he  examened. 

What  was  best  to  determyn  ? 
Then  answered  bisshop  Cayphas,-* 
That  a  grett  parte  better  it  was 

The  Gospell  to  be  condemned  ; 
Lest  their  vices  manyfolde 
Shulde  be  knowen  of  yonge  and  olde, 

Their  estate  to  be  contempned. 
The  Cardinall  then  incontinent^ 
Agaynst  the  Gospell  gave  judgement, 

Sayinge  to  brenne  he  deserved. 
Wherto  all  the  bisshoppis  cryed, 

^  A  poem  which   "represents  at  least  the  popular  opinion   as    to 
the  parts  played  by  the  several  actors."     (Westcott,  p.  36.) 

2  Standish,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph. 

3  By. 

♦  Tunstall,  Bishop  of  London. 

*  Imnfcdiately. 


Attempts  to  Preve?it  its  Introduction.  53 

Answerynge,  *  It  cannot  be  denyed 
He  is  worthy  so  to  be  served.' 

**■♦******«- 

Jif.  They  sett  nott  by  the  Gospell  a  flye  : 
Diddest  thou  nott  heare  whatt  villany 
They  did  vnto  the  Gospell  ? 
Wat.   WTiy,  did  they  agaynst  hym  conspyre  ? 
Jef.  By  my  trothe  they  sett  hym  a  fyre 

Openly  in  London  cite. 
Wat.  Who  caused  it  so  to  be  done  ? 
Jef.  In  sothe  the  Bisshoppe  of  London, 
With  the  Cardinallis  authorite  : 
Which  at  Paulis  crosse  emestly 
Denounced  it  to  be  heresy 

That  the  Gospell  shuld  come  to  lyght ; 
Callynge  them  heretikes  execrable 
Whiche  caused  the  Gospell  venerable 

To  come  vnto  laye  mens  syght. 
He  declared  there  in  his  furiousnes, 
That  he  fownde  erroures  more  and  les 

Above  thre  thousande  in  the  translacion. 
Howe  be  it,  when  all  cam  to  pas, 
I  dare  saye  vnable  he  was 

Of  one  erroure  to  make  probacion."^ 

The  utmost  efforts  were  used  to  prevent  the  intro- 
duction of  the  forbidden  books  into  England,  and  to 
discover  and  destroy  the  copies  which  were  already  in 
circulation.  Many  copies  were  bought  up  for  large  sums 
of  money,  which  afforded  means  for  reprints  and  new 
editions  :  accordingly  as  many  as  three  editions  were 
issued  by  Antwerp  printers  in  1526  and  the  two  following 
years.  The  detailed  narratives  of  search  and  persecution 
are  full  of  interest,  but  they  lie  beyond  the  limits  of 
our  space.^ 

^  Nearly  3C0  lines  of  this  satire  are  given  by  Arber,  pp.  29 — 32. 
^  One  narrative  especially  we  exclude  with  regret,  as  too  lengthy  for 
quotation.     This  is  the  "Story  of  Thomas  Garret,  and  things  done  in 


54  The  English  Bible. 

In  the  midst  of  this  turmoil  Tyndale  quietly  pursued 
his  labours.  At  first  he  was  not  recognised  in  England 
as  the  author  of  the  obnoxious  translation,  which  bore 
no  name  on  the  title-page.  The  secret,  however,  could 
not  long  be  kept.  Wolsey,  connecting  Tyndale  with  the 
satire  published  (by  Rove)  against  himself,^  used  vigorous 
efforts  to  get  him  into  his  power.  Tyndale  now  found 
it  necessary  to  leave  Worms.  In  1527,  probably,  he  re- 
moved to  Marburg  in  Hesse  Cassel,  where  he  spent  the 
greater  part  of  the  four  years  following,  leaving  Marburg 
for  Antwerp  early  in  153 1.  At  Marburg  his  principal 
doctrinal  and  controversial  works  were  printed,  at  the 
press  of  Hans  Luft ;  as  his  Parable  of  the  Wicked  Mammon 
(1528),  his  Treatise  on  the  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Alan 
(1528),  the  Pi'actice  of  Prelates  (1530).  The  work  of 
translation,  however,  was  not  neglected.  After  the  New 
Testament,  Tyndale  devoted  himself  to  the  Old,  com- 
mencing with  the  Pentateuch.  Foxe's  statement  is  as 
follows :  "  At  what  time  Tyndale  had  translated  the  fifth 
book  of  Moses,  called  Deuteronomy,  minding  to  print 
the  same  in  Hamburg,  he  sailed  thitherward ;  where  by 
the  way,  upon  the  coast  of  Holland,  he  suffered  ship- 
wreck, by  which  he  lost  all  his  books,  writings,  and 
copies,  and  so  was  compelled  to  begin  all  again  anew, 
to  his  hindrance  and  doubling  of  his  labours.  Thus, 
having  lost  by  that  ship  both  money,  his  copies,  and  his 
time,  he  came  in  another  ship  to  Hamburg,  where,  at 
his  appointment,  Master  Coverdale  tarried  for  him,  and 
helped  him  in  the  translating  of  the  whole  five  books 
of  Moses,  from  Easter  till  December,  in  the  house  of 
a   worshipful   widow,    Mistress    Margaret  Van    Emmerson, 

Oxford,  reported  by  Antony  Delaber:"  see  Foxe,  vol.  v.,  pp.  421—427  ; 
Arber,  pp.  57—63. 
^  Demaus,  p.  160. 


TJie  Pentateuch   Translated.  55 

A.D.  1529;  a  great  sweating  sickness  being  at  the  same 
time  in  the  town.  So,  having  dispatched  his  business  at 
Hamburg,  he  returned  afterwards  to  Antwerp  again."  ^  It  is 
hard  to  reconcile  every  particular  of  this  narrative  with  what 
we  learn  from  other  sources,  and  from  Foxe  himself;  but 
there  is  little  doubt  that  it  is  in  the  main  correct.  The 
Pentateuch  appears  to  have  been  published  at  Marburg  in 
1530  or  1531  :  a  second  edition  was  issued  in  1534.  The 
Pentateuch  was  followed,  in  1531,  by  the  Book  of  Jonah, 
probably  printed  at  an  Antwerp  press.  At  this  period 
Tyndale  was  involved  in  active  controversy  with  Sir  T. 
More,  who  had  violently  attacked  his  translation  of  the 
New  Testament  and  his  other  writings.  The  only  part  of 
the  controversy  with  which  we  are  concerned  is  that  which 
relates  to  Tyndale's  accuracy  as  a  translator  :  More's  stric- 
tures will  be  noticed  presently.  The  year  1534  is  especially 
memorable  for  the  publication  of  Tyndale's  revised  trans- 
lation of  the  New  Testament,  "  imprinted  at  Antwerp  by 
Marten  Emperowr."  The  title  runs  thus  :  "  The  newe 
Testament  dylygently  corrected  and  compared  with  the 
Greke  by  Willyam  Tindale,  and  fynesshed  in  the  yere  of 
our  Lorde  God  a.m.d.  &  xxxiiii.  in  the  moneth  of  Nouem- 
ber."  Besides  the  New  Testament,  this  volume  contained 
a  translation  of  "  the  Epistles  taken  out  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  are  read  in  the  Church  after  the  use  of  SaHs- 
bury  upon  certain  days  of  the  year."  These  "  Epistles " 
include  78  verses  from  the  Pentateuch;  51  from  i  Kings, 
Proverbs,  and  the  Song  of  Solomon  ;  147  from  the  Pro- 
phetical Books  (chiefly  from  Isaiah) ;  and  43  from  the 
Apocrypha  (chiefly  from  Ecclesiasticus).^  The  work  of  re- 
vision and  translation  occupied  Tyndale's  attention  to  the 
last.     Very  shortly  before  (or  perhaps  even  after)  his  arrest 

1  Foxe,  vol.  v.,  p.  120.     Compare  Demaus,  pp.  229,  230. 

2  Westcott,  p.  48. 


56  The  English  Bible. 

appeared  a  third  edition  of  his  New  Testament,  bearing 
marks  of  assiduous  labour.  In  a  recently  discovered  letter 
written  during  his  imprisonment,  Tyndale  begs  that  he  may 
be  allowed  the  use  of  his  Hebrew  books,  Bible,  grammar, 
and  dictionary.  There  is  good  reason  for  believing  that 
he  left  behind  him  in  manuscript  a  translation  of  the 
Books  of  the  Old  Testament  from  Joshua  to  2  Chronicles 
inclusive. 

The  touching  details  of  Tyndale's  treacherous  betrayal, 
while  residing  in  the  house  of  his  warm  and  true  friend, 
Thomas  Poyntz,  of  Antwerp,  cannot  be  given  here.  In 
May,  1535,  he  was  committed  to  the  castle  of  Vilvorde, 
near  Brussels.  Notwithstanding  all  the  efforts  of  his  friends 
in  England  and  in  the  Low  Countries  to  procure  for  him 
protection,  he  was  condemned  to  death.  On  Friday, 
October  6th,  1536,  he  was  strangled  at  the  stake,  and  his 
body  burnt  to  ashes.  His  last  words  were,  "  Lord  !  open 
the  King  of  England's  eyes." 

"  And  here  to  end  and  conclude  this  history  with  a  few 
notes  touching  his  private  behaviour  in  diet,  study,  and 
especially  his  charitable  zeal  and  tender  relieving  of  the 
poor  :  First,  he  was  a  man  very  frugal  and  spare  of  body,  a 
great  student,  and  earnest  labourer,  namely  [especially]  in 
the  setting  forth  of  the  Scriptures  of  God.  He  reserved  or 
hallowed  to  himself  two  days  in  the  week,  which  he  named 
his  days  of  pastime,  and  those  days  were  Monday  the  first 
day  in  the  Aveek  and  Saturday  the  last  day  in  the  week. 
On  the  Monday  he  visited  all  such  poor  men  and  women 
as  were  fled  out  of  England  by  reason  of  persecution  into 
Antwerp;  and  those,  well  understanding  their  good  exer- 
cises and  qualities,  he  did  very  liberally  comfort  and  re- 
lieve ;  and  in  like  manner  provided  for  the  sick  and  diseased 
persons.  On  the  Saturday  he  walked  round  about  the  town 
in  Antwerp,  seeking  out  every  corner  and  hole  where  he 


Death  of  Tyndale.  57 

suspected  any  poor  person  to  dwell  (as  God  knoweth  there 
are  many) ;  and  where  he  found  any  to  be  well  occupied, 
and  yet  overburdened  with  children,  or  else  were  aged  or 
weak,  those  also  he  plentifully  relieved.  And  thus  he  spent 
his  two  days  of  pastime,  as  he  called  them.  And  truly  his 
almose  [alms]  was  very  large  and  great ;  and  so  it  might 
well  be,  for  his  exhibition  that  he  had  yearly  of  the  English 
merchants  was  very  much ;  and  that  for  the  most  part  he 
bestowed  upon  the  poor,  as  aforesaid.  The  rest  of  the  days 
in  the  week  he  gave  him  wholly  to  his  book,  wherein  most 
diligently  he  travailed.  When  the  Sunday  came,  then  went 
he  to  some  one  merchant's  chamber  or  other,  whither  came 
many  other  merchants  ;  and  unto  them  would  he  read  some 
one  parcel  of  Scripture,  either  out  of  the  Old  Testament  or 
out  of  the  New ;  the  which  proceeded  so  fruitfully,  sweetly, 
and  gently  from  him  (much  like  to  the  writing  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist),  that  it  was  a  heavenly  comfort  and  joy  to 
the  audience  to  hear  him  read  the  Scriptures  :  and  in  like 
wise  after  dinner  he  spent  an  hour  in  the  aforesaid  manner. 
He  was  a  man  without  any  spot  or  blemish  of  rancour  or 
malice,  full  of  mercy  and  compassion,  so  that  no  man  living 
was  able  to  reprove  him  of  any  kind  of  sin  or  crime  ;  albeit 
his  righteousness  and  justification  depended  not  thereupon 
before  God,  but  only  upon  the  blood  of  Christ  and  his  faith 
upon  the  same,  in  which  faith  constantly  he  died,  as  is  said 
at  Vilvorde,  and  now  resteth  with  the  glorious  company  of 
Christ's  martyrs  blessedly  in  the  Lord,  who  be  blessed  in 
all  his  saints.     Amen."  ^ 

Some  recent  writers  have  endeavoured  to  place  his 
character  in  a  very  different  light.  It  may  be  acknowledged 
that  in  controversy  Tyndale  frequently  used  language  which 
cannot  be  defended,  especially  when  (with  or  without 
sufficient  reason)  he  suspected  an  adversary  to  be  actuated 
^  Yoy^t's  Life  0/ Tyndale.     See  Arber,  pp.  17,  18. 


58  The  English  Bible. 

by  corrupt  motives  ;  but  those  who  best  know  the  character 
of  the  times  in  which  he  Hved  will  judge  most  leniently 
of  this  excess.  Certainly  it  is  not  possible  to  condemn 
Tyndale  on  this  charge  and  absolve  his  opponents.  His 
fervent  zeal  for  the  truth  may  have  led  him  into  extremes, 
but  it  was  free  from  any  taint  of  selfish  considerations.  "  I 
assure  you,"  he  says  ^  (at  a  time  when  overtures  were  made 
to  him  to  return  to  England),  "  if  it  would  stand  with 
the  king's  most  gracious  pleasure  to  grant  only  a  bare  text 
of  the  Scripture  to  be  put  forth  among  his  people,  like  as  is 
put  forth  among  the  subjects  of  the  emperor  in  these  parts, 
and  of  other  Christian  princes,  be  it  of  the  translation 
of  what  person  soever  shall  please  his  Majesty,  I  shall 
immediately  make  faithful  promise  never  to  write  more,  nor 
abide  two  days  in  these  parts  after  the  same  ;  but  im- 
mediately to  repair  into  his  realm,  and  there  most  humbly 
submit  myself  at  the  feet  of  his  Royal  Majesty,  offering  my 
body  to  suffer  what  pain  or  torture,  yea,  what  death  his 
Grace  will,  so  that  this  be  obtained."  Of  the  value  of 
his  work  we  shall  speak  hereafter  when  we  examine  it 
in  detail.  Whether  we  look  at  his  work  or  at  his  life,  it 
is  impossible  not  to  admire  and  reverence  "the  worthy 
virtues  and  doings  of  this  blessed  martyr,  who,  for  his  pain- 
ful travails  and  singular  zeal  to  his  country,  may  be  called 
an  apostle  of  England."^ 

^  Demaus,  p.  308. 

^  Foxe,  Acts  and  Monuments^  vol.  v.,  p.  129. 


CHAPTER    V. 

WILLIAM     TYNDALE. II. 

From  the  brief  sketch  that  has  been  given  of  the  life  of 
Tyndale,  we  turn  now  to  the  examination  of  his  work.  We 
shall  first  notice  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament. 

On  the  following  page  is  given  a  facsimile  of  some  verses 
of  St.  Matthew  from  one  of  Tyndale's  Testaments.  The 
specimen  is  taken  from  the  first  edition,  from  the  sheets 
printed  at  Cologne  in  1525,  before  Cochlseus  appeared 
on  the  scene  to  obstruct  Tyndale's  labours.  These  sheets, 
it  will  be  remembered,  were  in  quarto,  whereas  the  edition 
commenced  at  Worms  was  in  octavo.  The  facsimile,  there- 
fore, represents  the  earliest  English  Testament  ever  printed 
— the  first  English  translation  of  the  New  Testament  made 
from  the  original. 

Until  recently  it  was  supposed  that  no  portion  of  this 
quarto  Testament  had  escaped  destruction.  In  the  year 
1836,  however,  a  London  bookseller  accidentally  met  with  a 
portion  of  an  English  translation  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel, 
in  black  letter,  bound  up  with  another  tract.  The  fragment 
consisted  of  thirty-one  leaves.  Seven  of  these  contained  a 
prologue,  commencing  "  I  have  here  translated  (brethern 
and  susters  moost  dere  and  tenderly  beloued  in  Christ)  the 
newe  Testament  for  youre  spirituall  edyfyinge,  consolacion, 
and  solas."  After  the  prologue  we  find  a  complete  list 
of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  and  a  woodcut 
representing  an  angel  holding  an  inkstand  into  which  St. 
Matthew  dips  his  pen.      Then   follows  the  translation  of 


outoft^^e  bouffc/anb  fatt  byt^c  feefy^vanb  wo^ 

i^^^anbfatm  a  il^pf^/M"^  all  il)e  people  fto^eon  tlje 
fVre,2(nbbe  fraFc wany  tl);ngf  tct^«m  m ftmiHtubf  /  fc;^ 
Vinse:  bcbol^e/tb*^ fewer  wnl  fortl)  loforoc^att^  as  1)^0^ 
-a)cb/fcmfdlby  tl)eTDa3ie^f))be/2  tl)^  fowUna/aTi^  Vvoxv 
Tcbxtnppe.  ©'otne fdl apoti  flOTi))  0rotiiibewer^itbat)Ytott 
moc^^ert^/anb  atiottit  ffvongcuppe/b^catife  it  bab  no^c^-  | 
pbt  of5rtl?:anb  t»b(2ntl)c  fon  was tppe  /WcatJtl)  l;)c<it  /anb  i 
for  laW  of  Tobncie  w^b^teb  awa^e.Sow^  fdl  awoD^c  tboV^ 
ms  /  artb  ti)^  t^orncs  arofe  /aTTbcl)ocrFcb\t»  parte  fell  in 
gco'oagTOiitibe/atib  bros!)t  fort^SW^  fi^^tr.  fowai\l)Vir- 
brebfolb/fome  f^ftV  f()lb/fomUl>)>rt>?folU.\»l)oro^W^ae^ 
ear^s  to  bcare/letbim  b«f^^^* 

C2(nbl)v<ob>ifctplt&  cam/apbfa>jWb^imtQ:)()^  fpeafcft 

tboiT  to  t^cm in  parables  \  tjc  anfcocreb  an^  faibe  ptito  t^etn: 

J^it  i^  seven  vnto  ^onto  FnoT»«  tl)e  fecrettf  of  tb^  F^JvtcjW 

,      .     )neoft)m«/buttotbcm  Itxsnott  g<LV<m«  :fort»l)ofttmet)er 

ibabflt  f?ati) *.^¥  batb/b bitn  f t)all  bit  be^cveti :  anb  t)^  fbalt  bave  abounban- 

ifvtXb?/ 1^/  ^^-   »«^  mo^'^^  batb  notr;  froix  Dim  fbalbc  tafj^na 

rehit  tn\)UipiictH7  wa^c  mtbatfame tbalbebatbxberfOTCtpeaf^^totbm 

mafetb  t¥  poeple  tnfimitUub^;  ^or  tljoPQbtl)^)^  fe/tbev  fenott:  aiib  b^d^vnge 

better. xobereljitb  tbc\)bcatenot;nnbcr\)nbetftonV*2(tib\ntbcm  V5  fulfylbb  efa. 

MtVeman^^^  ttJ^ ^^^Pl^^fV  orcfaVt.bicbptopbf  fay tb :  m\)ycix,2<.x^ 

imlkYth  tK^^^^^^^  y6fbaUbeare/aiib  fb^tllnot  Dnbcrftobe/  anb  toitb  yoorecycs 

tpoftife.     '  j^efball f^yanb  f boll  not pfetccave  Jot  tljis  peoples  bcrt 3^^ 

FAC-SIMILE  OF  ST,    MATT.    XIII.   I— 15   IN   TYNDALE'S  FIRST  TESTAMENT 

(quarto  edition). 


Tyndales  New   Testament.  6\ 

rather  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  Gospel,  the  last  words  of 
the  fragment  being,  "  howe  camyst  thou  in  hydder,  and  " 
(Matt.  xxii.  12).  As  now  the  prologue  contains  the  very 
passages  which  were  alleged  against  Tyndale  by  his  ene- 
mies ;  as  the  list  of  books  embraces  the  whole  New  Testa- 
ment, and  follows  the  peculiar  arrangement  which  is  adopted 
in  Tyndale' s  octavo  Testament ;  as  it  can  be  shown  from 
the  woodcut  and  from  typographical  evidence^  that  the 
fragment  was  printed  (by  Quentel)  at  Cologne  before  1526; 
and  as  the  translation  agrees  to  a  remarkable  extent  with 
that  of  the  octavo  Testament ;  there  cannot  remain  the  least 
doubt  that  in  this  fragment  we  have,  as  has  been  said, 
a  portion  of  the  first  New  Testament  published  by  Tyndale, 
and  that  the  eight  sheets  which  it  contains  are  part  of 
the  ten  so  hastily  carried  off  from  Cologne  to  Worms.  Out 
of  3,000  copies  printed,  this  alone  is  known  to  exist.  It  is 
now  in  the  Grenville  library  of  the  British  Museum,  and  is 
commonly  spoken  of  as  the  Grenville  Fragment.  This  work 
has  recently  been  rendered  accessible  to  all,  through  the 
publication  by  Mr.  Arber  of  an  admirable  facsimile  edition  : 
from  the  editor's  excellent  Preface.,  which  contains  docu- 
ments of  great  importance,  we  have  already  given  many 
quotations. 

Before  entering  into  further  detail  respecting  this  earliest 
version,  let  us  look  at  the  companion  volume,  the  octavo 
Testament  issued  at  Worms  in  1525.  Of  this  edition  we 
happily  possess  one  complete  copy — complete,  that  is,  so 
far  as  the  translation  is  concerned,  for  here  also  the  title-page 
is  missing.  This  copy,  which  is  in  the  library  of  the  Baptist 
College,  Bristol,  has  been  most  carefully  reproduced  in 
facsimile  by  Mr.  Francis  Fry.  It  contains  no  prologue, 
or  list  of  contents  ;  but  at  the  close,  before  the  list  of  errors 
corrected,  there  is  a  short  address  to  the  reader,  of  which 
^  See  Arber' s  Facsimile^  pp.  65,  66. 


62  The  Enzlish  Bible. 


we  shall  have  to  speak  presently.  An  imperfect  copy  of  the 
same  edition,  preserved  in  the  library  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
contains  about  six-sevenths  of  the  New  Testament,  being 
defective  both  at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end.  In  1836 
Messrs.  Bagster  republished  this  translation,  under  the 
editorship  of  Mr.  Offor.  These  who  have  not  access  to  Mr. 
Fry's  beautiful  (but  expensive)  facsimile,  will  find  this  edition 
convenient,  and  sufficiently  correct  for  most  purposes.^  The 
same  translation  of  the  Gospels  is  given,  together  with 
Wycliffe's,  in  Bosworth  and  Waring's  Gothic  and  Anglo- 
Saxon  Gospels.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  adduce  at 
length  the  evidence  on  which  we  receive  this  Testament  as 
Tyndale's.  In  the  introduction  to  the  facsimile,  Mr.  Fry 
fully  proves  that  the  book  was  printed  by  P.  Schoefifer 
at  Worms  about  the  time  at  which  Tyndale  is  known 
to  have  been  in  that  city.  In  a  later  work  Tyndale  makes 
reference  to  the  address  to  the  reader  which  this  volume 
contains ;  and  a  comparison  of  the  translation  with  that 
of  subsequent  editions  which  bear  Tyndale's  name  is  of 
itself  sufficient  to  place  the  authorship  beyond  doubt. 

As  might  ho.  expected,  the  differences  between  the  two 
editions  of  1525  are  very  slight,  so  far  as  the  translation  is 
concerned.  A  careful  collation  of  the  Grenville  Fragment 
with  the  corresponding  portion  of  the  octavo  edition  shows 
that,  if  we  pass  over  variations  in  orthography  and  some 
manifest  misprints,  there  are  hardly  more  than  fifty  differ- 

^  There  is  considerable  inaccuracy  in  minor  points,  such  as  the 
spelling  of  words.  In  the  course  of  about  thirty  chapters  (taken  from 
St.  Matthew,  the  Acts,  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians)  there  are 
not  more  than  four  mistakes  which  affect  the  sense  ;  but  within  the 
compass  of  fifty  verses  only  there  are  nearly  thirty  differences  in 
orthography,  &c.,  between  this  edition  and  Mr.  Fry's  facsimile.  It 
should  be  said  that  the  title-page  inserted  by  Mr.  Offor  has  no 
authority  whatever. 


Tyndales  New  Testament.  6"^ 

ences  of  text  in  740  verses.  Many  of  these  are  of  very 
little  consequence  (as  to  for  wito^  unto  for  to,  7vhkh  for  the 
which),  but  others  show  the  hand  of  the  careful  reviser, 
omitting  unnecessary  words  or  improving  the  style.  There 
is  but  little  advance  in  correctness  of  translation,  the  emen- 
dations being  balanced  by  almost  an  equal  number  of  mis- 
takes. The  only  alteration  of  real  importance  is  found 
in  Matt.  xx.  23,  where  the  quarto  text  has  "is  not  mine 
to  give  you  ;"  in  the  octavo  Tyndale  rightly  removes  the 
"you,"  which  had  come  in  from  the  Vulgate.  That  the 
Testament  to  which  the  Grenville  Fragment  belongs  is  of 
earlier  date  than  the  octavo,  would  be  clear  even  if  we  had 
only  internal  evidence  to  guide  us  ;  for  in  more  than  forty 
out  of  the  fifty  places  in  which  the  two  texts  differ,  the 
reading  of  the  octavo  is  that  which  is  found  in  Tyndale's 
later  editions.  In  other  respects  the  two  Testaments  of 
1525  have  much  less  in  common.  The  brief  epistle  "To 
the  Reader"  stands  in  marked  contrast  with  the  lengthy 
prologue  prefixed  to  the  quarto  edition,  and  the  absence 
of  notes  in  the  octavo  is  a  still  more  striking  characteristic. 
Our  specimen  of  the  earlier  work  contains  an  explanatory 
comment  in  the  outer  margin,  the  inner  being  reserved 
for  references  to  passages  of  Scripture,  usually  to  parallel 
passages  in  the  other  Gospels.  As,  however,  these  two 
Testaments  so  nearly  agree  in  the  text  which  they  present, 
they  are  usually  spoken  of  as  one  work,  under  the  name  of 
Tyndale's  yfrj-/  edition  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  publication  of  unauthorised  impressions  of  Tyndale's 
Testament,  by  printers  in  Antwerp,  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to ;  these  will  require  no  further  notice.  In  1534, 
however,  George  Joye,  the  author  of  translations  of  Isaiah, 
Jeremiah,  and  the  Psalms  (not  from  the  Hebrew,  but  from 
the  Latin),  took  in  hand  a  revision  of  Tyndale's  version, 
correcting  it  by  the  help  of  the  Vulgate.     Many  of  the 


64  The  English  Bible. 

alterations  which  Joye  made  were  very  offensive  to  Tyndale; 
though,  no  doubt,  made  with  good  intentions,  they  betray 
great  weakness  of  judgment,  and  frequently  depart  widely 
from  the  meaning  of  the  original  text.^  Perhaps  it  is  to  this 
unauthorised  procedure  that  we  owe  Tyndale's  distinct 
avowal  that  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  (which 
had  hitherto  appeared  anonymously)  was  from  his  hand. 
The  revised  version  on  which  he  had  been  long  engaged 
was  published  in  November,  1534,  three  months  later  than 
Joye's ;  and  not  only  does  the  title-page  contain  Tyndale's 
name,  but  at  the  head  of  the  Preface  we  find  "  W.  T.  yet 
once  again  to  the  Christian  Reader."  In  this  edition, 
usually  known  as  the  second,  the  text  is  accompanied  by 
marginal  notes.  Besides  the  address  to  the  reader,  there  is 
a  separate  prologue  to  almost  every  book,  those  prefixed  to 
the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans 
being  of  considerable  length.  A  translation  of  Epistles 
taken  out  of  the  Old  Testament,^  and  a  short  exposition 
upon  certain  words  and  phrases  of  the  New  Testament, 
"  added  to  fill  up  the  leaf  withal,"  are  the  remaining  contents 
of  the  volume.  A  few  copies  of  this  edition  are  preserved 
in  our  great  libraries;  for  example,  those  of  the  British 
Museum,  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
&c.  In  1843  Messrs.  Bagster  published  in  their  English 
Hexapla  a  careful  reprint  of  Tyndale's  Testament  of  1534? 
taken  from  a  copy  in  the  Library  of  the  Baptist  College, 
Bristol. 

"  One  of  the  few  copies  of  this  edition  which  have  been 
preserved  is  of  touching  interest.  Among  the  men  who  had 
suffered  for  aiding  in  the  circulation  of  the  earHer  editions 

1  One  copy  of  Joye's  work  has  been  preserved,  and  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum.  For  further  particulars,  see  Westcott,  History,  pp. 
46 — 48  ;  Demaus,  Life  of  Tyndale,  pp.  387 — 391. 

2  See  above,  p.  55. 


Tyndales  New  Testament.  65 

of  the  Testament  was  a  merchant-adventurer  of  Antwerp, 
Mr.  Harman,  who  seems  to  have  appHed  to  Queen  Anne 
Boleyn  for  redress.  The  queen  Hstened  to  the  plea  which 
was  urged  in  his  favour,  and  by  her  intervention  he  was 
restored  to  the  freedom  and  privileges  of  which  he  had  been 
deprived.  Tyndale  could  not  fail  to  hear  of  her  good 
offices,  and  he  acknowledged  them  by  a  royal  gift.  He  was 
at  the  time  engaged  in  superintending  the  printing  of  his 
revised  New  Testament,  and  of  this  he  caused  one  copy  to 
be  struck  off  on  vellum  and  beautifully  illuminated.  No 
preface  or  dedication  or  name  mars  the  simple  integrity  of 
this  copy.  Only  on  the  gilded  edges  in  faded  red  letters 
runs  the  simple  title,  Anna  Regiiia  Anglice.  The  copy  was 
bequeathed  to  the  British  Museum  by  the  Rev.  C.  M. 
Cracherode  in  1799."^ 

The  final  results  of  Tyndale's  labours  on  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  found  in  the  edition  which  was  published  about 
the  time  of  his  imprisonment.  There  is  some  difficulty  in 
identifying  this  edition,  as  the  same  text  appears  in  two 
forms,  one  bearing  date  1535,  the  other  1534  (that  is,  pro- 
bably, the  commencement  of  1535);  where  the  latter  date 
is  given,  the  initials  "  G.  H."^  follow.  It  is  probable  that  the 
edition  "  1534  (G.  H.)  "  is  Tyndale's  genuine  work,  the  otlier 
being  a  pirated  edition.  One  circumstance  has  brought  the 
book  dated  1535  into  special  notoriety — viz.,  the  extra- 
ordinary orthography  of  the  words.  A  glance  at  the 
specimens  which  we  give  of  the  earlier  editions  will  show 
how  wonderfully  the  spelling  of  English  words  may  be  made 
to  vary,  but  in  the  edition  now  under  consideration  there 
is  a  method  in  the  madness  which  cannot  fail  to  attract 
attention.     In  Col.    i.   9 — 17,  for  example  (see  page  (iZ\ 

1  Westcott,  History,  p.  49. 

2  It  has  been   suggested  (by  Mr.   H.   Stevens)  that   these  initials 
stand  for  Guillaume  Hytchins,  T}Tidale's  assumed  name. 

F 


66  TJie  Endish  Bible. 


we  find  praeyingt\  frucffull,  fadhcr^  kaet/i,  maedc,  saeyncfes, 
dcrknes^  ivhoom,  rueh\  »S:c.  It  has  been  suggested  that  the 
peculiar  orthography  was  adopted  intentionally ;  that  Tyn- 
dale,  wishing  to  adapt  his  work  not  only  to  his  countn-men, 
but  also  to  those  of  his  own  county,  wrote  the  words  ac- 
cording to  die  pronunciation  current  among  the  peasantry 
of  Gloucestershire,  that  even  the  "boy  that  drove  the 
plough"  might  learn  to  read  the  Holy  Scriptures.^  It 
appears  certain,  however,  that  the  strange  guise  in  which 
the  words  appear  is  the  result  of  the  employment  of  Flemish 
printers,  the  novel  combinations  of  vowels  being  due  to 
peculiarities  of  Flemish  pronunciation.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark  that  Tyndale's  last  edition,  though  it  has  marginal 
references  and  (in  part)  short  headings  of  chapters,  is  without 
notes.  Two  copies  of  the  edition  dated  1535  are  preserv^ed. 
That  in  the  British  Museum  is  imperfect  both  at  the  be- 
ginning and  at  the  end ;  a  complete  copy  may  be  seen  in 
the  Cambridge  University  Library.  The  text  of  this  edition 
has  not  been  republished. 

The  following  specimens  Avill  illustrate  the  various  forms 
of  Tyndale's  work  on  the  New  Testament,  and  will  enable 
our  readers  to  judge  for  themselves  in  regard  to  some 
interesting  questions  which  remain  to  be  considered.  The 
first  extract  is  taken  from  the  second  edition  (1534),  as 
printed  in  Bagster's  Hexapla.  The  portion  selected  is 
Matt.  xiii.  i — 14,  Tyndale's  earlier  translation  of  which 
verses  has  already  been  given  (p.  60).  For  the  purpose  of 
comparison,  the  later  Wycliffite  version  of  the  same  passage 
is  added.  The  next  extract  is  from  the  British  Museum  copy 
of  the  Testament  of  1535;  Col.  i.  9 — 17  has  been  chosen, 
as  a  passage  of  some  difficulty.  Here  also  the  reader  may 
compare  Tyndale's  work  with  that  of  Purvey,  some  verses 
of  the  early  version  having  been  given  on  a  preceding  page 
^  See  above,  p.  46. 


specimens  of  Tyndales   Work.  6/ 

(p.  25).  The  last  passage  from  the  New  Testament  is 
Heb.  xi.  29 — 34,  as  it  appears  in  the  edition  of  1535  :  in 
this  the  spelHng  has  been  assimilated  to  that  of  our  ordinary- 
Bibles,  in  order  that  the  two  versions  may  be  more  easily- 
compared. 

ST.   MATTHEW  XIII.    I — 14   (TYNDALE,    I534). 

The  same  daye  went  lesus  out  of  the  house,  and  sat  by  the  see 
syde,  and  moch  people  resorted  vnto  him,  so  gretly  that  he  went  and 
sat  in  a  shippe,  and  all  the  people  stode  on  the  shoore.  And  he  spake 
many  thynges  to  them  in  similitudes,  sayinge :  Beholde,  the  sower 
went  forth  to  sowe.  And  as  he  sowed,  some  fell  by  the  wayes  syde, 
and  the  fowlles  came  and  devoured  it  vp.  Some  fell  apon  stony 
grounde  where  it  had  not  moche  erth,  and  a  nonne  it  spronge  vp, 
because  it  had  no  depth  of  erth  :  and  when  the  sunne  was  vp,  it  cauht 
heet,  and  for  lake  of  rotynge  wyddred  awaye.  Some  fell  amonge 
thornes,  &  the  thomes  spronge  vp  and  chooked  it.  Parte  fell  in  good 
ground,  &  brought  forth  good  frute  :  some  an  hundred  fold,  some 
sixtie  fold,  some  thyrty  folde.  Whosoever  hath  eares  to  heare,  let  him 
heare. 

And  the  disciples  came  and  sayde  to  him  :  Why  speakest  thou  to 
them  in  parables  ?  He  answered  and  sayde  vnto  them  :  It  is  geven 
vnto  you  to  knowe  the  secretes  of  the  kyngdome  of  heven,  but  to  them 
it  is  not  geven.  For  whosoever  hath  to  him  shall  be  geven  :  and  he 
shall  have  aboundance.  But  whosoever  hath  not :  from  hym  shal  be 
takyn  a  waye  even  that  he  hath.  Therfore  speake  I  to  them  in 
similitudes  :  for  though  they  se,  they  se  not :  &  hearinge  they  heare 
not :  nether  vnderstonde.  And  in  them  is  fulfilled  the  Prophesie  of 
Esayas,  which  prophesie  sayth :  With  the  eares  ye  shall  heare  and 
shall  not  vnderstonde,  and  with  the  eyes  ye  shall  se,  and  shall  not 
perceave. 

ST.    MATTHEW   XIII.    I — 14   (PURVEY,    1 388). 

In  that  dai  Jhesus  gede  out  of  the  hous,  and  sat  bisidis  the  see. 
And  myche  puple  was  gaderid  to  hym,  so  that  he  wente  up  in  to  a 
boot,  and  sat ;  and  al  the  puple  stood  on  the  brenke.  And  he  spac  to 
hem  many  thingis  in  parablis,  and  seide,  Lo  !  he  that  sowith  gede  out 
to  sowe  his  seed.  And  while  he  sowith,  summe  seedis  felden  bisidis  the 
weie,  and  briddis  of  the  eir  camen,  and  eeten  hem.  But  othere  seedis 
felden  in  to  stony  places,  where  thei  hadden  not  myche  erthe  ;  and  anoon 
thei  sprongen  vp,  for  thei  hadden  not  depnesse  of  erthe.  But  whanne 
F2 


6S  The  English  Bible. 

the  Sonne  was  risun,  thei  swaliden,  and  for  thai  hadden  not  roote,  thei 
drieden  vp.  And  other  seedis  felden  among  thomes  ;  and  thomes  woxen 
vp,  and  strangeleden  hem.  But  othere  seedis  felden  in  to  good  lond, 
and  gauen  fruyt,  summe  an  hundrid  foold,  an  othir  sixti  foold,  an  othir 
thritti  foold.  He  that  hath  eris  of  heryng,  here  he.  And  the  disciplis 
camen  nyg,  and  seiden  to,hun,  Whi  spekist  thou  in  parablis  to  hem? 
And  he  answeride,  and  seide  to  hem,  For  to  gou  it  is  gouun  to  knowe 
the  priuytees  of  the  kyngdom  of  heuenes  ;  but  it  is  not  gouun  to  hem. 
For  it  shal  be  gouun  to  hym  that  hath,  and  he  shal  haue  plente ;  but 
if  a  man  hath  not,  also  that  thing  that  he  hath  shal  be  takun  awei  fro 
hym.  Therefore  Y  speke  to  hem  in  parablis,  for  thei  seynge  seen  not, 
and  thei  herynge  heren  not,  nether  vndurstonden  ;  that  the  prophesie 
of  Ysaie  seiynge  be  fulfillid  in  hem.  With  heryng  ge  schulen  here,  and 
ge  shulen  not  vndurstonde  ;  and  ge  seynge  schulen  se,  and  ge  shulen 
not  se. 

COL.  I.  9—17  (tyndale,  1535). 

For  this  cause  we  also,  sence  the  daye  we  harde  of  it,  haue  not 
ceasyd  praeyinge  for  you,  and  desyringe  that  ye  might  be  fulfilled  with 
the  knowledge  of  his  will,  in  all  wysdome  &  spirituall  vnderstondinge, 
that  ye  might  walke  worthy  of  the  Lorde  in  all  thinges  that  please, 
beynge  fruetfull  in  all  good  workes  and  encreasinge  in  the  knowledge 
of  God,  strengthed  with  all  might  thorowe  his  glorious  power  vnto  all 
pacience  and  longe  sufferinge  with  ioyfulnes,  geuinge  thankes  vnto  the 
faether  which  haeth  maede  vs  meete  to  be  parttackers  of  the  enheri- 
taunce  of  saeynctes  in  light. 

Which  haeth  deliuered  vs  from  the  power  of  derknes,  and  haeth 
translated  vs  into  the  kingdome  of  his  deare  sone,  in  whoom  we  haue 
redempcion  thorowe  his  bloud,  that  is  to  saey  forgeuens  of  sinnes, 
which  is  the  ymage  of  the  inuisible  God,  first  begotten  of  al  creatures. 
For  by  him  were  all  thinges  created,  thinges  that  are  in  heauen,  and 
things  that  are  in  earth  :  thinges  visible,  and  thinges  inuisible,  whether 
they  be  maieste  or  lordshippe,  ether  ruele  or  power.  All  thinges  are 
created  by  him,  and  in  him,  and  he  is  before  all  thinges,  and  in  him  all 
thinges  haue  there  beynge. 

HEB.    XI.    29—34    (tyndale,     1 535  :    SPELLING   MODERNISED). 

By  faith  they  passed  through  the  Red  Sea  as  by  dry  land,  which 
when  the  Egyptians  had  assayed  to  do.  They  were  drowned. 

By  faith  the  walls  of  Jericho  fell  down  after  they  were  compassed 
about,  seven  days. 


Successive  Editions  of  Tyndal^s   Testament.     69 

By  faith  the  harlot  Rahab  perished  not  with  the  unbelievers,  when 
she  had  received  the  spies  to  lodging  peaceably. 

And  what  shall  I  more  say  ?  the  time  would  be  too  short  for  me  to 
tell  of  Gedeon,  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jephthae  :  also  of 
David  and  Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets :  which  through  faith  subdued 
kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  obtained  the  promises,  stopped  the 
mouths  of  lions,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  of  weak  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight,  turned  to 
flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens. 

If  our  readers  will  now  place  side  by  side  our  facsimile 
(p.  60)  and  the  first  of  the  passages  just  given,  the  relation 
between  Tyndale's  first  and  second  editions  will  be  easily 
seen.  In  the  fourteen  verses  there  is  no  difference  between 
the  octavo  and  quarto  of  1525  (except  in  spelHng) ;  the 
second  edition  exhibits  seven  changes — no  inconsiderable 
amount  of  alteration  for  a  passage  of  this  nature  and  extent. 
In  one  case  an  oversight  is  corrected  {sixty  for  fifty) ;  in 
two  or  three  others  the  original  is  followed  more  closely.  A 
more  graphic  expression,  *'  the  thorns  sprung  up,"  takes  the 
place  of  "  the  thorns  arose : "  here,  however,  the  gain  is 
more  than  doubtful,  for  now  two  different  Greek  words  are 
rendered  by  "  sprung  up,"  and  the  hasty  growth  of  the  seed 
which  fell  on  the  stony  ground  is  not  distinguished  from  the 
"  coming  up  "  of  the  thorns.  It  will  be  seen  that  most  of 
the  alterations  stood  their  ground,  and  are  in  the  Authorised 
Version. 

The  second  and  third  passages  happen  to  illustrate  the 
agreement  amongst  Tyndale's  successive  editions,  rather  than 
their  difference ;  the  only  variations  being  found  in  Col.  i. 
14  f' the  forgiveness  "  for  "forgiveness").  Col.  i.  17  ("before 
all"  for  "of  all"),  and  in  Heb.  xi.  31  ("them  that  believed 
not"  for  "the  unbelievers,"  and  "after"  for  "when").  In 
fact,  not  one  of  the  examples  here  given  fully  illustrates  the 
amount  of  revision  bestowed  by  Tyndale  on  his  earlier  work. 
In  a  chapter  of  St.  Matthew  taken  at  hazard  (chap,  xxi.)  we 


70  The  English  Bible. 

find  that,  whereas  the  two  Testaments  of  1525  differ  in  one 
word  only,  the  second  edition  (1534)  differs  fi-om  them  in 
forty  or  fifty  places.  In  twenty  of  these  the  new  rendering 
is  nearer  to  the  Greek,  in  three  only  is  it  less  faithful  than 
the  former  version ;  in  more  than  thirty  of  these  instances 
Tyndale's  later  rendering  is  preserved  in  the  Authorised 
Version.  Professor  Westcott  has  compared  the  three 
editions  throughout  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  John.  He  finds 
thirty-four  changes  introduced  in  1534,  sixteen  more  in 
1535;  in  most  instances  the  change  was  for  the  better.^ 
Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  Tyndale,  like 
Luther,  was  continually  bent  on  the  improvement  of 
his  work.  At  the  safne  time,  we  need  not  go  beyond  the 
illustrations  here  given  to  be  convinced  of  the  excellence 
of  Tyndale's  first  attempt,  all  the  changes  introduced  by 
him  at  a  later  period  affecting  but  a  small  portion  of  his 
earliest  text. 

The  first  impression  produced  by  the  reading  of  the 
passages  we  have  cited  from  Tyndale's  Testament  will  per- 
haps be  one  of  surprise  that  there  is  so  little  difference 
between  the  English  of  1525  and  that  of  our  ordinary 
Bibles.  Two  or  three  words  or  phrases  are  unfamiliar,  but 
even  these  present  no  real  difficulty ;  the  sense  is  plain. 
This  impression  is  strengthened  when  we  pass  from  short 
extracts  to  whole  chapters  and  books  of  Tyndale's  version. 
In  the  Gospel  of  St.  Mark  and  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
there  are  not  more  than  eighty  words  (or,  as  some  of  these 
words  occur  two  or  three  times,  not  more  than  ninety  words 
in  all)  which  are  not  found  in  our  Authorised  Version  of  the 
Bible ;  that  is  to  say,  there  are  not  more  than  four  strangers 
in  every  thousand  words,  or  nine  in  every  hundred  verses. 
In  the  whole  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament  the  number  of 
different  words  of  this  description  is  probably  below  350. 
1  Hist,  of  Eng.  Bible,  pp.  309 — 312. 


Similarity  to  the  Authorised  Version.  71 

This  number  may  seem  high,  amounting  as  it  does  to  nearly 
a  tenth  part  of  the  vocabulary  of  our  New  Testament,  but 
many  of  the  unfamiliar  words  occur  once  or  twice  only.  We 
have,  indeed,  no  right  to  speak  of  the  words  as  unfamiHar, 
for  comparatively  few  (such  as  assoil,  arede.  gobbet,  grece.  to 
pill,  harberous,  lowth,  to  disdain  at,  to  disease,  pai'tlet,  i7ian- 
(juetler)  would  cause  the  ordinary  reader  any  embarrassment. 
Many  of  them  differ  very  slightly  from  well-known  Bible 
words,  as  ignora?tcy,  vioistness,  warmness,  vantage,  uncredible, 
teniperancy,  conspiration,  frailness,  prisonmejit.  A  large  number 
belong  to  the  English  of  the  present  day  ;  such  are  emperor, 
scruple,  breakfast,  farmer,  tejiant,  gown,  ti'ifle,  fiend,  prompt, 
betoken,  compile,  friendless,  rose-coloured,  vainglorious,  ha7ig- 
man,  effusion,  beseem,  suspicious,  to  piece,  to  swarm,  paschal, 
rightful,  sermon,  prelate,  angrily,  ineffable,  parish,  pith,  Good 
Friday,  Sunday,  Whitsuntide.  The  only  surprise  that  can 
be  excited  by  the  occurrence  of  some  of  these  words  arises 
from  their  apparent  modernness  ;  we  can  hardly  bring  our- 
selves to  believe  that  they  are  nearly  a  century  older  than 
King  James's  Bible. 

On  more  attentive  study,  however,  we  discover  that  the 
familiar  look  which  Tyndale's  version  wears  (when  once  we 
have  overcome  the  difficulty  of  the  spelling)  is  not  due 
to  familiar  vocabulary  alone.  Not  words  only,  but  phrases 
and  whole  sentences  have  rung  in  our  ears  from  childhood. 
Take  for  example  the  passage  given  from  chapter  xi.  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and  compare  it  with  the  common 
translation ;  not  twenty  words  in  the  six  verses  do  we  find 
changed.  This,  as  all  will  admit,  is  a  passage  of  great 
beauty — a  passage  most  happily  rendered ;  but  a  glance  will 
show  that  almost  all  the  excellent  points  are  due  to  the  first 
translator.  The  other  passages  we  have  cited  have,  perhaps, 
undergone  greater  change,  but  in  these  also  the  well-known 
terms  of  expression  are  continually  presenting  themselves. 


"J  2  The  English  Bible. 

It  has  been  estimated^  that,  in  our  Authorised  Version, 
about  nine-tenths  of  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  John  and  five- 
sixths  of  the  very  difficult  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  are 
retained  from  Tyndale.  When  a  new  rendering  has  dis- 
placed Tyndale's  the  change  has  not  always  been  for  the 
better.  It  would  be  a  gain,  for  instance,  if  in  John  x.  i6 
we  still  read  *'  one  flock,"  instead  of  "  one  fold  ;"  if  i  Cor. 
xiii.  set  forth  the  excellence  of  "  love,^'  and  not  of  "  charity ;" 
if  in  Rom.  i.  i8  St.  Paul  were  not  made  to  speak  of  "men 
who  hold,"  but  of  "  men  who  withhold  "  (or  "  hinder  ")  the 
truth ;  or  if  "  in  the  name  "  took  the  place  of  "  at  the  name  " 
in  Phil.  ii.  lo,  and  "by  Jesus"  (or  "through  Jesus")  were 
substituted  for  "  in  Jesus  "  in  i  Thess.  iv.  14.  In  these  and 
in  other  examples  which  might  be  adduced  the  earlier  ren- 
dering (in  substance)  should  be  replaced.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  is  no  doubt  that,  on  the  whole,  the  translation 
has  gained  largely  in  faithfulness  under  the  hand  of  the 
loving  labourers  who  followed  Tyndale.  Still  greater  has 
been  the  gain  in  rhythm  and  beauty  of  phrase,  though  even 
here  Tyndale  stands  high.  Happy  turns  of  expression  such 
as  "singing  and  making  melody  in  your  hearts,"  "in  him 
we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being,"  "turned  to  flight  the 
armies  of  the  aliens"  (which  are  all  due  to  Tyndr'  ),  with 
many  others  which  might  be  quoted  from  sections  of 
peculiar  tenderness  and  charm  of  language  (as  Acts  xx.  18 
— 35,  Eph.  iii.,  I  Peter  ii.),  tell  their  own  tale. 

The  connexion  between  Tyndale's  work  and  our  Author- 
ised Version  has  a  less  favourable  side.  If  many  of  the 
excellences  of  the  latter  are  due  to  the  first  translator, 
so  also  are  some  of  its  characteristic  faults.  The  incon- 
sistency of  rendering  so  often  alleged  against  our  version 
(and  not  without  reason)  appears  very  strikingly  in  Tyndale, 
the  same  word  being  very  frequently  rendered  in  two  different 
^  Westcott,  History,  p.  165. 


Characteristics  of  Tyjidales    Version.  73 

ways  in  the  same  verse  or  even  line.  Thus,  in  Matt.  xxi.  23 
we  now  read,  "  By  what  authority  doest  thou  these  things  ? 
and  who  gave  thee  this  authority  ? "  The  Greek  word 
occurs  twice,  and  the  English  reader  receives  the  very 
impression  which  the  Greek  conveys.  Tyndale,  however 
(no  doubt,  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  a  word),  translates  the 
Greek  word  in  the  first  clause  by  "  authority,"  in  the  second 
by  "  power."  It  is  less  surprising  to  meet  with  inaccuracies 
of  other  kinds.  At  so  early  a  period  of  the  revived  study 
of  Greek,  the  influence  of  the  Latin  language  was  naturally 
very  great,  and  we  cannot  wonder  if  we  find  a  translator 
neglecting  the  Greek  article  because  it  was  necessarily  passed 
over  in  the  Vulgate  (the  Latin  language  having  no  definite 
article),  or  failing  to  perceive  the  exact  force  of  tenses  and 
constructions  when  the  peculiarities  of  the  same  famiHar 
language  rendered  it  an  unsafe  guide.  The  real  ground 
for  wonder  is  that,  with  resources  so  imperfect,  work  so 
valuable  should  have  been  accomplished. 

One  characteristic  of  Tyndale's  translation  strikes  the 
reader  at  once.  No  one  can  read  the  narrative  portions 
of  the  Gospels,  as  presented  in  our  Authorised  Version, 
without  remarking  the  multitude  of  connective  words.  And, 
but,  710W,  theft  recur  so  often  that  we  feel  at  once  that  we  are 
reading  a  translation  from  some  other  tongue.  The  repeated 
use  of  a  few  of  the  simplest  Greek  conjunctions  to  dovetail 
together  the  successive  portions  of  a  narrative  would  have 
appeared  monotonous  to  an  Athenian,  and  is  really  a  pecu- 
liarity of  the  Hebrew  language,  naturally  reproduced  in 
Greek  that  was  spoken  or  written  by  Jews.  An  idiomatic 
English  translation  might  efface  this  feature  of  the  origi- 
nal ;  a  literal  rendering  seeks  to  present  to  the  English 
reader  every  characteristic  of  the  Greek  which  can  be 
expressed  without  danger  to  the  clearness  or  force  of  the 
sentence.     In  Tyndale's  first  essay  he  sacrifices  literalness 


74  The  Efiglish  Bible. 

to  English  idiom,  and  very  frequently  neglects  the  con- 
nective word.  In  four  chapters  of  St.  Matthew  (xviii. — xxi.) 
we  find  forty-four  omissions  of  this  kind  in  the  course  of 
145  verses;  in  his  second  edition,  however,  Tyndale 
reduced  this  number  to  thirty-six.  Scholars  still  differ  as 
to  the  course  which  a  translator  should  take,  but  Tyndale 
had  a  definite  idea  on  the  subject,  and  the  result  is  a 
clearly- marked  feature  of  his  work. 

These  various  questions  of  translation  suggest  another 
important  inquiry.  What  was  the  Greek  text  which  Tyndale 
rendered  into  English  ?  Without  entering  into  any  technical 
details,  we  may  remind  the  reader  that  the  manuscripts  of 
the  Greek  Testament  differ  widely  among  themselves.  Whilst 
agreeing  so  remarkably  that  (as  was  said  by  Bentley)  not 
one  article  of  faith  or  moral  precept  is  either  perverted  or 
lost  in  the  whole  mass  of  various  readings,  yet  they  present 
many  very  interesting  and  very  important  variations,  none 
of  which  will  the  reverent  student  of  Scripture  be  willing  to 
neglect.  Until  the  year  15 16  not  more  than  six  or  seven 
chapters  of  the  Greek  Testament  had  been  printed  and 
published;  the  sacred  book  was  accessible  in  manuscript 
only.  In  that  year  Erasmus's  first  edition  of  the  Greek 
Testament  was  given  to  the  world.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
correctness  of  this  printed  text  would  depend  on  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  manuscripts  from  which  it  was  derived. 
These  manuscripts  (five  in  number)  are  still  at  Basle,^  where 
the  volume  was  printed;  and  when  the  science  of  textual 
criticism  began  to  be  studied  with  care,  scholars  were  at 
pains  to  examine  them  and  estimate  their  value.  Not  one 
of  these  manuscripts  is  ancient.     The  most  valuable  of  the 

^  With  the  exception  of  tliat  from  which  the  Book  of  Revelation 
was  taken.  This  manuscript  was  m.issing  until  i860,  when  it  was 
discovered  by  Professor  Delitzsch  in  the  library  at  Mayhingen,  in 
Bavaria. 


Tyndalis  Greek  Original  75 

five  was  written  in  the  tenth  century;  to  this  manuscript, 
however,  Erasmus  seems  to  have  attached  but  little  value.  In 
the  Gospels  Erasmus  followed  almost  entirely  a  manuscript 
written  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Before  Tyndale's  earliest 
translation  was  placed  in  the  printer's  hands,  Erasmus  had 
published  three  editions  of  the  Greek  text,  the  third  bearing 
date  1522.  Tyndale  may  have  had  in  his  possession  manu- 
script copies  of  the  Greek  Testament,  but  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  he  made  full  use  of  the  results  of  Erasmus's 
labours,  and  that  the  printed  text  was  the  basis  of  his  trans- 
lation. As,  however,  the  successive  editions  of  this  text 
differ  among  themselves  in  many  places,  we  must  carry  the 
inquiry  farther,  and  endeavour  to  ascertain  which  edition 
was  the  source  from  which  the  English  version  was  derived. 
One  well-known  characteristic  of  Erasmus's  third  and  most 
celebrated  edition  enables  us  to  apply  a  very  simple  test. 
In  I  John  V.  7,  8,  "  For  there  are  three  that  bear  record  [in 
heaven,  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost :  and 
these  three  are  one.  And  there  are  three  that  bear  witness 
in  earth],  the  spirit,  and  the  water,  and  the  blood,  and  these 
three  agree  in  one ;"  the  Greek  words  corresponding  to 
those  which  we  have  placed  within  brackets  are  contained  in 
no  manuscript  earlier  than  the  fifteenth  century,  and  were 
not  inserted  by  Erasmus  in  his  first  and  second  editions. 
As  the  missing  clauses  were  found  in  the  Latin  Vulgate, 
their  absence  from  the  Greek  text  gave  rise  to  much  con- 
troversy. Erasmus's  reply  to  his  objectors  was,  that  as  soon 
as  any  Greek  manuscript  containing  the  words  should  be 
discovered,  he  would  insert  them  in  his  text.  One  "  British 
manuscript "  (probably  the  "  Montfortian  manuscript,"  in 
the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  written  in  the  fifteenth 
or  sixteenth  century)  was  found  to  answer  this  requirement ; 
and  Erasmus  fulfilled  his  promise,  giving  the  words  a  place 
in  his  third  edition.    If  now  we  turn  to  Tyndale's  octavo 


'J  6  The  English  Bible. 

Testament,  published  three  years  later,  we  find  the  con- 
troverted clauses  given  without  any  mark  to  indicate  a 
doubt  of  their  genuineness/  almost  as  they  stand  in  our 
Authorised  Version.  Here,  then,  we  have  a  clear  proof 
that  our  translator  made  use  of  the  third  edition  of  Eras- 
mus's Greek  Testament.  We  must  not  hastily  assume  that 
this  edition  was  the  basis  of  Tyndale's  whole  translation. 
It  may  easily  be  shown  that  Tyndale's  work  agrees  with 
no  one  of  Erasmus's  editions.  For  example,  a  peculiarity 
of  his  first  is  the  omission  of  several  words  in  Acts  ii.  30, 
and  in  Tyndale's  first  Testament  these  words  are  wanting  f 
on  the  other  hand,  nearly  twenty  passages  might  be  quoted 
in  which  Tyndale  differs  from  Erasmus's  first  edition  and 
agrees  with  his  second.  A  very  clear  mark  of  the  second 
edition  is  the  substitution  of  "ye  envy"  for  "ye  kill"  in 
James  iv.  2  ;  in  all  other  editions,  earHer  and  later,  Erasmus 
set  aside  this  reading,  which  had  no  other  authority  than  his 
own  conjecture,  and  restored  "ye  kill;"  Tyndale  has  "ye 
envy,"  not  only  in  his  first  edition,  but  also  in  his  revised 
version.  Where  Erasmus's  second  and  third  editions  differ, 
Tyndale  seems  to  agree  with  the  second  more  frequently 
than  with  the  third.  It  appears  clear,  then,  that  Erasmus's 
second  edition  (15 19)  was  that  with  which  Tyndale  was 
most  famihar;  but  that  on  the  appearance  of  the  third, 
which  contained  so  remarkable  an  addition  as  that  in 
I  John  V.  7,  8,  he  followed  the  authority  of  Erasmus  in  this 
passage,  and  possibly  in  some  others.  Before  Tyndale's 
revision  was  published,  Erasmus  had  given  to  the  world 
a  fourth  edition  (1527)  in  which  the  text  of  the  Book  of 
Revelation  was  materially  improved  by  the  use  of  the  Com- 

^  In  his  revised  translation   (1534),   Tyndale   prints   the   disputed 
words  in  different  type  and  in  a  parenthesis. 

2  Perhaps  the  omission  is  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Vulgate. 


hifluence  of  Latin    Versions,  77 

plutensian  Polyglott/  which  had  been  prepared  from  better 
manuscripts.  Unfortunately,  Tyndale  appears  to  have  made 
no  use  of  this  edition.  In  Rev.  xiv.  i,  "havynge  his  fathers 
name  written  in  their  forheads,"  he  has  one  of  its  improved 
readings,  "written"  instead  of  "burning;"  but  as  he  gave 
this  rendering  as  early  as  1525,  it  is  evident  that  he  obtained 
it  from  some  other  source,  most  probably  from  the  Vulgate. 
If  this  reading  was  taken  from  the  Latin,  it  would  not  be  a 
solitary  instance  of  the  kind.  In  Matt.  i.  t8,  for  example, 
the  word  "  Jesus "  is  omitted  in  Tyndale's  first  edition, 
though  no  Greek  manuscript  leaves  out  the  word,  and 
the  Vulgate  must  have  been  the  authority  which  Tyndale 
followed.  To  the  same  influence  we  must  attribute  the 
absence  of  the  doxology  from  the  Lord's  Prayer,  as  given  in 
the  first  Testament.  In  both  these  instances  the  words  omitted 
were  restored  in  the  revision  of  1534.  In  later  translations 
as  well  as  in  Tyndale's,  we  shall  find  that  the  influence  of  the 
Latin  versions  sometimes  led  to  the  adoption  of  readings 
not  found  in  the  Greek  text  which  the  translators  possessed. 
Not  unfrequently,  as  has  been  already  explained  (page  29), 
these  readings  have  been  since  discovered  to  rest  on  high 
authority,  being  confirmed  by  ancient  manuscripts  not 
known  or  not  appreciated  in  the  sixteenth  century.  This 
question,  however,  is  only  one  branch  of  another,  much 
wider  and  more  important — what  influence  did  the  Vulgate 
and  other  translations  of  Scripture  (by  Erasmus,  Luther, 
and  others)  exert  upon  Tyndale's  version?  This  question 
must  be  reserved  until  Tyndale's  work  upon  the  Old  Testa- 
ment has  been  reviewed. 

Before  we  pass  away  from  our  present  subject  a  word 

must  be  said  on  the  order  in  which  the  books  of  the  New 

Testament  are  placed.     The  list  of  books  preserved  in  the 

Grenville  Fragment  is  very  curious.     As  far  as  the  Epistle  to 

^  See  above,  p.  37. 


78  '        The  English  Bible. 

Philemon  the  arrangement  does  not  differ  from  that  of  our 
own  Bibles,  but  this  Epistle  is  immediately  succeeded  by 
those  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  John.  So  far,  the  books  are 
numbered  from  i  to  23.  After  the  3rd  Epistle  of  St.  John 
there  is  a  break  in  the  list,  and  the  names  of  the  four 
remaining  books,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Epistles  of 
St.  James  and  St.  Jude,  and  the  Apocalypse,  are  left  without 
numbers,  and  most  carefully  kept  apart  from  those  which 
precede.  This  arrangement  is  Luther's  ;  the  four  books 
were  placed  last  by  him  because,  in  his  judgment,  they 
stood  below  the  other  books  in  rank  and  importance.  It  is 
clear  that  in  1525  Tyndale  accepted  in  the  main  Luther's 
opinion  on  this  point.  In  his  Testament  of  1534  the  order 
remains  unchanged;  but  the  break  in  the  list  before  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  has  disappeared ;  and  in  his  prologues 
Tyndale  distinctly  admits,  and  even  argues  for,  the  authority 
of  the  three  Epistles  as  portions  of  Holy  Scripture. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WILLIAM    TYNDALE. — III. 

The  two  specimens  given  in  facsimile  on  the  following  page 
are  taken  from  originals  in  the  British  Museum.  The  former 
is  one  of  the  Epistles  from  the  Old  Testament  which  are 
appended  to  Tyndale's  New  Testament  of  1534 ;  the  second 
is  from  the  first  edition  of  Tyndale's  Pentateuch.  There 
are  two  copies  of  the  latter  work  in  the  British  Museum : 
one  (in  the  Grenville  Library)  is  perfect;  the  other  wants  a 
few  pages,  which  have  been  supplied  in  facsimile.  In  this 
edition  each  of  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch  has  its  own 
title-page,  but  in  no  case  does  this  page  contain  the  date  of 
publication  or  the  printer's  name.  The  only  information  on 
these  points  is  supplied  by  a  note  at  the  end  of  Genesis  : 
"  Emprented  at  Malborow  in  the  lande  of  Hesse,  by  me 
Hans  Luft,  the  yere  of  oure  Lorde  M.cccccxxx.,  the  xvij. 
dayes  of  Januarij."  The  Books  of  Genesis  and  Numbers 
are  in  black  letter;  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Deuteronomy,  in 
Roman.  It  seems  clear  from  these  indications  that  the  five 
books  were  published  and  circulated  separately;  whether 
they  were  collected  by  Tyndale  and  issued  by  him  in  one 
volume,  we  do  not  know  with  certainty.  Each  book  has  its 
own  prologue.  The  preface  to  Genesis  is  headed,  "  W.  T. 
To  the  Reader,"  and  opens  with  a  reference  to  the  writer's 
translation  of  the  New  Testament.  To  this  document  we 
have  already  referred,^  as  affording  trustworthy  information 
respecting  Tyndale's  labours  before  he  left  England  for  the 

^  See  above,  p.  47. 


xifion  of  tl)e  CLpmlg'^lie/an^tD^enVfaffet^ 

not  i^otd/3  bcbor6eI)imbutnotiiv^4^eTe 
fbaK  cowe  a  ftatre  of 3acob  anb  r^^feacepter 
cf25taef./t»l)ic()  f^aff  fm5>te  )>*  cpoftes^f^oi 
aB  an6t5n50rTn>>nc  ae£%  d[)i£bem  ofS^iV 
2Inb  if  bom  fl)af  be  I)is  po  ffe  fjrion/aul)))pop 
fcffion  isf  6'^iT  fl)afbe  tj)ftir  nmmyc^s/axthZi 
rue  ff^  aff  boo  ma-nfu6E)>  .'51n6  out  ofJTacob: 
5l)a5.  come  l;fct^atf[)afE6eflr&)?et(;eTeinnattt 

oflbedtleis. 

NUMBERS   XXIV.    l6— 19:    TYNDALE   (1531). 

Cr31ftctt^tfcrfobavea(t6rl§(?.$)\uba:5)e  3^^ 
C^  imtff  paapfe  l^  ©  8oa^e/t^at  i^ovici& 

J^gerter  turueb/attb  t^cu  ^afl  ccmfoite 
m^,)Be6oC5e  (^ob  t6m5fatuadoTi:^'a)\ff8c 
Bo6^e  l^crfote  atib  net  fecitc«jfb\  t6e  8o^be 
(^ob  xemy  flrenat^  anb  w^ paayfc  ^»6etof 
^'  (Vtt^c J  anb  16  Beeome  my  faxyyouTe .llu^;)e 
f§aK  bra'ojc  toater  in  ^^abtxcs  ouU  of  ip^  V»c^ 
E^e  of  fafuacloi),  2inb^e  e^aff  fa-yeit)  iBai  bd' 
Vctg^Toe  fBanber  untd  t6e  toxhef  caff  ot\  5I0  ttcL 
m^jmaK^  Bis  bcbce  knotoeti  amonge  l^e  ^ej 
tB^ntrcmcmBeT  l6at  ftW-nameis  fiie.:lS,))fte 
tip^^^nge  unto  tfte  toe/foi  Je  6at^  bor\t 
epu(^en\(yi/anb  l^ai  te  kno^eti  t^oaov»  OU'^ 
te  dff  tft^Vooifte .  £xy&  o^Xib  f^otote  i^ou  m ^ 
OaBiter  of  ^ton/ foi  ttteat  amonge  vonie  tBe 

ISAIAH,    CHAP.    XII.  :    TYNDALE   (1534). 


Tyndaies  Bible.  8i 

Continent.  The  initials  "  W.  T."  stand  at  the  head  of  every 
page  of  the  prologues  to  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numbers,  and 
Deuteronomy.  In  Exodus  several  full-page  illustrations  are 
introduced,  representing  the  furniture  of  the  tabernacle,  the 
dress  of  the  high  priest,  &c.  Each  book  is  furnished  with 
marginal  notes,  keenly  controversial  in  spirit,  and  vigorous 
in  language ;  everywhere  the  writer  is  bent  on  tracking  out 
and  exposing  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  Rome.  Are  the 
sons  of  Aaron  commanded  not  to  "make  baldness  upon 
their  head"  (Lev.  xxi.  5),  at  once  follows  the  comment, 
"  Of  the  heathen  priests  then  took  our  prelates  the  ensample 
of  their  bald  pates."  Where  the  text  brings  before  us  the 
self-sacrificing  spirit  of  Moses  (Exod.  xxxii.),  Tyndale  is 
ready  with  a  parallel  and  a  contrast :  "  O  pitiful  Moses,  and 
likewise  O  merciful  Paul  (Rom.  ix.).  And  O  abominable 
.Pope  with  all  his  merciless  idols."  Though  such  comments 
as  these  cannot  but  remind  the  reader  of  Luther,  it  has 
been  shown  by  Mr.  Demaus^  that  they  are  altogether 
different  from  the  notes  in  Luther's  Pentateuch  :  in  this 
respect  they  differ  widely  from  the  marginal  annotations  in 
Tyndale' s  first  Testament,  which  were  in  great  measure 
taken  from  the  German.- 

In  the  Library  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  we  find  a  volume 
very  similar  in  character  and  contents  to  that  which  has  just 
been  described.  It  contains  the  Pentateuch  in  the  form  of 
five  separate  books,  with  different  title-pages  and  prologues, 
and  printed  in  different  descriptions  of  type.  Here,  how- 
ever, the  Book  of  Numbers  alone  is  in  black  letter ;  Genesis 
is  in  Roman,  and  plainly  professes  to  be  "  newly  correctyd 
and  amendyd  by  W.  T.,  M.D.  xxxiiii."  It  is  clear,  then, 
that  we  have  before  us  a  new  edition  of  the  translation  of 
Genesis ;  but  whether  the  translation  of  the  other  books  has 

1  Life  of  Tyndale,  p.  238. 

2  See  Westcott,  History,  p.  153  ;  Demaus,  p.  129. 
G 


82  The  English  Bible. 

been  in  any  way  altered  is  very  doubtful.  Even  in  Genesis 
the  changes  introduced  are  probably  of  no  great  magnitude. 
In  the  earlier  edition  Gen.  iv.  7  is  rendered  thus :  "Wotest 
thou  not  yf  thou  dost  well  thou  shalt  receave  it  ?  But  &  yf 
thou  dost  evell,  by  &  by  thy  synne  lyeth  open  in  the  dore. 
Not  withstondyng,  let  it  be  subdued  unto  the,  and  see  thou 
rule  it."  In  the  corrected  edition  dost  is  twice  changed  into 
do^  but  in  other  respects  the  rendering  is  unaltered.  The 
later  translation  of  Gen.  xx.  16,  a  difficult  verse,  is  as 
follows :  "  He  shall  be  a  couerynge  to  thyne  eyes  vnto  all 
that  ar  with  the,  and  vnto  all  men  an  excuse."  The  earlier 
text  reads,  "  and  vnto  all  men,  and  an  excuse."  The  two 
translations  have  not  as  yet  been  compared  throughout. 

It  is  generally  beHeved  that  Tyndale  proceeded  much 
farther  than  the  Pentateuch  in  the  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  that  in  a  Bible  pubHshed  the  year  after  his 
death  all  the  books  from  Genesis  to  2  Chronicles  (inclusive) 
are  from  his  hand.  The  evidence  in  support  of  this  opinion 
will  be  given  when  we  come  to  speak  of  "  Matthew's  Bible." 
The  only  portion  of  the  Old  Testament  which  appeared  in 
Tyndale's  name,  besides  the  Pentateuch  and  the  "  Epistles," 
was  the  Book  of  Jonah  (15  31).  The  prologue  to  the  trans- 
lation (which  is  five  or  six  times  the  length  of  the  book 
itself)  is  well  known,  but  the  translation  was  until  very 
recently  supposed  to  be  entirely  lost.  As  lately  as  1848 
the  editor  of  Tyndale's  works  for  the  Parker  Society  did  not 
hesitate  to  maintain  that  Tyndale  had  never  published  a 
version  of  Jonah,  but  a  (so-called)  prologue  only.  In  1861 
all  doubts  were  set  at  rest,  a  copy  of  the  translation  being 
discovered  by  Lord  A.  Hervey,  now  Bishop  of  Bath  and 
Wells;  a  facsimile  edition  was  published  by  Mr.  Fry,  in 
1863. 

To  illustrate  more  fully  Tyndale's  labours  on  the  Old 
Testament,  we  append  the  whole  passage  in  Numb.  xxiv. 


specimens  of  Tyndales  Translations.  83 

from  which  some  verses  have  been  already  taken,  and  also 
a  part  of  the  4th  chapter  of  Jonah. 

NUMBERS   XXIV.    I5 — 2\   (TYNDALE,    1531).^ 

^^  And  he  began  his  parable  and  sayed  :  Balam  the  sonne  of  Beor 
hath  sayed,  and  the  man  that  hath  his  eye  open  hath  sayed,  ^^  and  he 
hath  sayed  that  heareth  the  wordes  of  God  and  hath  the  knowlege  of 
the  most  hye  and  beholdeth  the  vision  of  the  allmightie,  and  when  he 
falleth  downe  hath  his  eyes  opened.  ^-^  I  se  him  but  not  now,  I  beholde 
him  but  not  nye.  There  shall  come  a  starre  of  Jacob  and  ryse  a  cepter 
of  Israel,  which  shall  smyte  the  coostes  of  Moab  and  vndermyne  all  the 
childern  of  Seth.  ^^  And  Edom  shal  be  his  possession,  and  the  posses- 
sion of  Seir  shalbe  their  enimyes,  and  Israel  shall  doo  manfully,  ^^  And 
out  of  Jacob  shall  come  he  that  shall  destroye  the  remnaunt  of  the 
cities. 

20  And  he  loked  on  Amaleck  and  began  his  parable  and  sayed: 
Amaleck  is  the  first  of  the  nacions,  but  his  latter  ende  shall  perysh 
utterly.  ^^  And  he  loked  on  the  Kenites,  and  toke  his  parable  and 
sayed :  stronge  is  thi  d welly nge  place,  and  put  thi  nest  apon  a  rocke. 
-2  Neuerthelater  thou  shalt  be  a  burnynge  to  Kain,  untill  Assur  take  the 
prisoner.  ^3  ^nd  he  toke  his  parable  &  sayed  :  Alas,  who  shall  lyue 
when  God  doeth  this  ?  ^^  The  shippes  shall  come  out  of  the  coste  of 
Cittim  and  subdue  Assur  and  subdue  Eber,  and  he  him  selfe  shall 
perysh  at  the  last. 

JONAH    IV.    I — 5    (TYNDALK,    I531). 

Wherfore  Jonas  was  sore  discontent  and  angre.  And  he  prayed 
vn  to  the  lorde,  and  sayd :  O  lord,  was  not  this  my  sayenge  when  I  was 
yet  in  my  contre  ?  And  therfore  I  hasted  rather  to  fle  to  Tharsis  :  for 
I  knew  well  ynough  that  thou  wast  a  mercifull  god,  ful  of  compassion, 
long  yer  ^  thou  be  angre  and  of  great  mercie,  and  repentest  when  thou 
art  come  to  take  punishment.  Now  therfore  take  my  life  from  me, 
for  I  had  leuer  3  dye  then  Hue.  And  the  lorde  said  vn  to  Jonas,  art 
thou  so  angrie?  And  Jonas  gatt  him  out  of  the  citie  and  sate  him 
downe  on  the  est  syde  theroffe,  and  made  him  there  a  bothe,  and  sate 
thervnder  in  the  shadowe,  till  he  might  se  what  shuld  chaunce  vn  to  the 
citie. 

1  The  verses  are  marked  for  convenience  of  reference :  in  Tyndale's 
Pentateuch,  as  in  his  New  Testament,  there  are  no  divisions  except 
those  of  paragi-aphs  and  chapters. 

2  Ere,  before.  »  Rather. 

G2 


84  The  English  Bible. 

Let  us  now  examine  these  passages  in  detail,  taking  first 
the  verses  from  Numb.  xxiv.  (This  passage,  we  may  say, 
has  been  selected  solely  on  account  of  its  intrinsic  interest, 
and  because  it  well  tests  the  powers  of  a  translator.)  As  in 
the  extracts  from  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  so  here,  we 
notice  much  that  is  preserved  in  our  Authorised  Version ; 
we  may  easily  calculate  that  nearly  seventy  words  out  of 
every  hundred  have  remained  unchanged.  Even  a  hasty 
comparison,  however,  will  reveal  some  important  differences 
(of  interpretation,  and  not  merely  of  phraseology)  between 
the  two  versions.  The  renderings  which  will  strike  the 
reader  most  forcibly  are  the  present  tenses  in  verses  i6  and 
17  (heareth^  hath,  heholdeth,  I  see,  I  behold) ;  the  last  few 
words  in  verse  16  ("when  he  falleth  down  hath  his  eyes 
opened  ") ;  the  substitution  of  coasts  for  corners,  and  under- 
mine for  destroy,  in  verse  17  ;  of  is  for  was  in  verse  20  ;  and 
oi  put  for  thou  puttest  in  verse  21 ;  the  omission  of  "  shall 
have  dominion  and"  in  verse  19  ;  and  the  changes  in  the 
first  half  of  verse  22  :  in  verse  18  the  meaning  intended  is 
probably  the  same  in  both  versions.  Now  in  most  of  these 
points  of  difference  Tyndale's  version  clearly  deserves  the 
preference.  In  verses  16,  17,  an  accurate  modern  trans- 
lation would  come  very  near  to  Tyndale's.  Both  coasts  and 
corners  (verse  17)  are  possible  renderings  of  the  Hebrew 
word,  and  either  is  preferable  to  the  renderings  found  in 
the  Vulgate  and  Luther's  version.  The  translation  under- 
mine (verse  17)  is  interesting  as  an  attempt  to  render  the 
Hebrew  word  with  great  exactness — an  attempt  not  sug- 
gested by  either  of  the  versions  just  mentioned,  or  by  the 
Latin  version  of  Pagninus.  The  omission  in  verse  19  seems 
to  be  due  to  a  difl:erent  reading  of  the  Hebrew,  probably 
incorrect,  but  not  without  some  critical  support.  Commen- 
tators still  differ  in  opinion  as  to  the  choice  of  is  or  was 
in  verse  20.     The  same  may  be  said  of  put  and  is  put  in 


Tyjidale  Compared  with  the  Authorised  Version.  85 

verse  21;  the  rendering  of  the  Authorised  Version  ("thou 
puttest")  cannot  stand,  unless  as  a  free  translation,  following 
the  sense  rather  than  the  form  of  the  original.  In  verse  22 
our  common  version  is  probably  right,  but  it  is  interesting 
again  to  note  in  the  word  "  burning "  Tyndale's  effort  to 
keep  close  to  the  Hebrew.  The  general  results  of  a  careful 
comparison  of  Tyndale's  version  with  the  Authorised  in  this 
passage  may  be  stated  as  follows  :  —  There  are  in  these 
verses  about  seventeen  differences  of  some  importance ;  in 
eleven  of  these  Tyndale  is  probably  right.  In  three  of  the 
eleven  he  agrees  with  Luther  and  the  Vulgate,  in  three  more 
with  the  Vulgate  against  Luther ;  in  five  he  has  the  support 
of  neither  of  these  versions.  The  instances  in  which  Tyn- 
dale is  wrong  are  of  less  moment.  Once  he  follows  a 
different  reading  of  the  original  text,  twice  he  inserts  and., 
twice  omits  and  or  also.,  once  reads  which  in  the  place  of 
and;  in  verse  19  he  has  cities  for  city.  In  minor  points  the 
Authorised  Version  has  some  advantage  :  for  example,  took 
up  is  better  than  began  or  took.,  and  knew  (verse  16)  is  more 
literal  than  hath.  It  should  be  said  that  in  one  of  the 
important  variations  {put,  in  verse  21)  Tyndale's  translation 
may  be  due  to  the  Latin  version  of  Pagninus.  Surely 
nothing  can  be  clearer  than  that  in  this  passage  (and  we 
repeat  that  the  verses  were  selected  for  their  internal  cha- 
racter alone)  Tyndale  has  played  the  part  of  the  careful, 
able,  and  honest  translator,  using  all  available  helps,  but 
studying  the  original  for  himself  with  independent  judgment. 
The  second  passage  is  of  a  different  cast.  There  are  no 
difhculties  of  account  in  Isa.  xii.,  and  hence  the  differences 
between  Tyndale's  version  and  the  Authorised  consist  almost 
entirely  in  the  phraseology.  It  is  therefore  with  some  sur- 
prise that  we  discover  the  verbal  agreement  between  the 
two  versions  to  be  no  greater  than  in  the  passage  last 
examined.     Here  again  Tyndale's  translation  often  shows 


S6  The  English  Bible. 

close  attention  to  the  original ;  whereas  he  is  frequently  at 
variance  with  the  Vulgate ;  and  the  extent  of  his  divergence 
from  Luther  is  really  remarkable.  In  the  third  passage, 
Jonah  iv.  i — 5,  hardly  more  than  half  the  words  in  our 
version  are  found  in  Tyndale's,  though  here  also  there  is 
not  much  room  for  serious  difference  in  interpretation.  The 
translation  "Art  thou  so  angry?"  differs  from  both  Luther 
and  from  the  Vulgate. 

We  may  at  present  dismiss  from  consideration  Tyndale's 
translations  from  the  prophetical  books ;  though  interesting 
in  themselves,  they  are  of  little  importance  for  our  present 
purpose  in  comparison  with  his  version  of  the  Pentateuch. 
Of  this  it  would  not  be  right  to  form  a  judgment  from  an 
examination  of  one  passage  only.  Indeed,  this  passage 
taken  by  itself  gives  an  inadequate  impression  of  the  extent 
to  which  our  version  is  indebted  to  Tyndale  in  the  Penta- 
teuch. The  more  difficult  the  passage  chosen  as  a  speci- 
men, the  larger  is  the  amount  of  variation  which  different 
translations  will  exhibit.  If  we  take  the  last  twenty-four 
verses  of  Deuteronomy,  we  shall  find  that,  in  the  first  half 
of  this  portion,  which  is  difficult,  we  owe  to  Tyndale  about 
two-thirds  of  the  Authorised  Version ;  in  the  second  half,  a 
plain  narrative,  the  debt  is  largely  increased,  amounting  to 
eighty-six  words  in  every  hundred.  A  study  of  difficult 
verses,  taken  from  such  chapters  as  Deut.  xxxiii.  and  Gen. 
xlix.,  confirms  the  conclusions  already  expressed  in  regard 
to  Tyndale's  position  as  a  translator. 

No  one  will  suppose  that  the  characteristics  which  we 
have  discovered  in  Tyndale's  Pentateuch  will  be  wanting  in 
his  New  Testament.  Here,  however,  we  cannot  go  into 
detail ;  the  limits  of  our  space  will  not  permit  more  than  a 
statement  of  the  results  of  examination.  The  translations 
accessible  to  Tyndale  in  the  New  Testament  were  Luther's, 
the   Vulgate,    and   the   Latin   version   of   Erasmus,   which 


Independence  of  Tyndales   Work.  87 

accompanied  his  editions  of  the  Greek  text.  A  careful 
examination  of  continuous  passages  of  some  length,  and  also 
of  isolated  verses  of  peculiar  difficulty,  leads  us  to  the  same 
conclusion  as  in  the  former  case.  Alike  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  in  the  New,  Tyndale  had  before  him  the  best 
of  existing  translations,  and  every  page  shows  that  he  was 
largely  influenced  by  them  ;  but  all  who  scrutinise  his  work 
with  care  will  testify  that  Tyndale's  version  was  made  neither 
from  the  German  nor  from  the  Latin,  but  most  undoubtedly 
from  the  original  tongues. 

It  may  be  thought  that  too  much  stress  has  been  laid  on 
Tyndale's  independence.  Seldom,  however,  has  any  trans- 
lator been  so  completely  misjudged  as  Tyndale  has  been, 
One  cause  of  this  misapprehension  is  no  doubt  to  be  found 
in  the  vigour  and  warmth  (to  use  no  stronger  terms)  of  his 
controversial  works.  The  unprejudiced  reader  who  looks  at 
his  writings  as  a  whole  will  do  justice  to  Tyndale's  deep 
religious  feeling  and  fervent  zeal  for  the  truth ;  but  it  is  no 
matter  of  surprise  that  those  who  were  the  objects  of  his 
unsparing  attacks  should  have  depreciated  his  labours  and 
misunderstood  his  character.  Their  assertions,  unhappily, 
have  been  repeated  by  later  writers,  who  in  their  haste  have 
mistaken  the  statements  of  partisans  for  authentic  history. 
It  was  natural  for  More  to  connect  Tyndale's  New  Testa- 
ment with  Luther ;  but  we  may  well  be  astonished  when  we 
find  a  modern  historian  of  note  describing  Tyndale's  trans- 
lation as  "  avowedly  taken  from "  Luther's  and  from  the 
Latin  Vulgate,  and  another  affirming  that  "  Tyndale  saw 
Luther,  and  under  his  immediate  direction  translated  the 
Gospels  and  Epistles  while  at  Wittenberg."  More  recently 
still  Tyndale  has  been  classed  among  certain  translators 
who,  whilst  professing  to  carry  out  the  idea  of  forming  an 
Enghsh  Bible  from  the  original  languages,  "  seem  chiefly  to 
have  worked  for  the  printers,  and  to  have  translated  chiefly, 


8S  The  Efis^lish  Bible. 


i>' 


in  the  end,  from  Luther's  German  Bible  and  the  Vulgate." 
It  is  therefore  still  necessary  to  insist  on  the  internal  evi- 
dence which  so  strongly  supports  the  claim  which  Tyndale 
everywhere  makes  (by  implication,  if  not  openly),  to  have 
had  resort  to  the  original  Scriptures.  When  he  made  his 
first  attempt  to  obtain  the  countenance  of  Bishop  Tunstal  as 
a  translator  of  the  Greek  Testament,  he  offered  an  English 
version  of  Isocrates  as  a  token  of  his  competence.  More 
himself  allowed  and  appealed  to  Tyndale's  knowledge  of 
Greek.  One  of  the  most  celebrated  scholars  of  that  day,^ 
spoke  of  the  Englishman  who  was  translating  the  New 
Testament  at  Worms  as  a  man  "  so  learned  in  seven  lan- 
guages— Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Italian,  Spanish,  English, 
and  French — that,  whichever  he  spoke,  you  would  think  it 
his  native  tongue."  Tyndale  speaks  familiarly  of  the  peculiar 
constructions  of  Hebrew,  and  the  extent  to  which  they  influ- 
ence the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament ;  ^  his  remarks  on  the 
translation  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  into  English^  will  command 
the  assent  of  all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  properties  of 
the  languages  in  question.  In  his  Pentateuch  he  explains 
many  peculiar  words — such  as  Abrech  (Gen.  xli.  43)  and 
Zaphnath-paaneah — in  such  a  way  as  to  show  familiarity 
with  the  subject;  his  explanations  not  unfrequently  differ 
from  those  found  in  the  two  versions  to  which  he  is  sup- 
posed to  be  in  bondage,  and  not  always  for  the  worse.  But 
enough  has  been  already  said  to  show  how  baseless  are  the 
reflections  which  are  cast  on  Tyndale's  work  as  a  translator 
of  Scripture.  His  independence  in  this  respect  really  stands 
in  frequent  and  marked  contrast  with  his  close  adherence  to 
Luther  in  many  of  his  prologues,  notes,  and  expositions  of 

1  Hermann   von  dem   Busche,  usually  known   as   Buschius.     See 
Arber,  Preface,  p.  25. 

2  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  468. 

3  Works,  vol.  i.,  p.  148. 


CoJttroversy  zvith  Moi^e.  89 

Scripture.  To  use  the  words  of  one  who  has  examined  this 
subject  with  the  greatest  care,  "Tyndale  availed  himself  of 
the  best  help  which  lay  within  his  reach,  but  he  used  it  as  a 
master  and  not  as  a  disciple.  In  this  work  alone  he  felt 
that  substantial  independence  was  essential  to  success.  In 
exposition  or  exhortation  he  might  borrow  freely  the  lan- 
guage or  the  thought  which  seemed  suited  to  his  purpose, 
but  in  rendering  the  sacred  text  he  remained  throughout 
faithful  to  the  instincts  of  a  scholar."  ^ 

One  of  Tyndale's  adversaries  must  receive  more  than  a 
passing  notice.  We  have  already  referred  to  Sir  T.  More's 
violent  attacks  upon  Tyndale  and  all  who  were  supposed  to 
be  confederate  with  him.  In  the  folio  edition  of  More's 
works,  more  than  a  thousand  pages  are  taken  up  with  this 
controversy.^  More's  skill  in  Greek  is  not  doubted,  and  as 
little  can  any  one  question  his  eagerness  as  a  disputant ;  if, 
then,  Tyndale's  translation  of  the  New  Testament  were  bad 
and  false,  by  such  an  opponent  the  defects  must  surely  be 
brought  to  light.  It  is  no  small  testimony  to  Tyndale's  sub- 
stantial accuracy  that  More  occupies  himself  so  largely  with 
his  adversary's  doctrines,  so  little  with  the  translation.  In 
this,  it  is  true,  he  discovers  many  errors,  as  the  following 
quotation  will  show,  but  the  same  passage  will  also  reveal 
the  method  of  reckoning  employed: — 

"  So  had  Tyndale,  after  Luther's  counsel,  corrupted  and 
changed  it  from  the  good  and  wholesome  doctrine  of  Christ 
to  the  deviUsh  heresies  of  their  own,  that  it  was  clean  a 
contrary  thing.  'That  were  marvel,'  quoth  your  friend, 
'  that  it  should  be  so  clean  contrary  \  for  to  some  that  read 
it  it  seemed  very  like.'  '  It  is,'  quoth  I,  '  never  the  less 
contrary,  and  yet  the  more  perilous.  For  like  as  to  a  true 
silver  groat  a  false  copper  groat  is  never  the  less  contrary, 

^  Westcott,  History,  p.  164. 
2  Demaus,  p.  281. 


90  The  English  Bible. 

though  it  be  quicksilvered  over,  but  so  much  the  more  false, 
in  how  much  it  is  counterfeited  the  more  like  to  the  truth, 
so  was  the  translation  so  much  the  more  contrary  in  how 
much  it  was  craftily  devised  like,  and  so  much  the  more 
perilous  in  how  much  it  was  to  folk  unlearned  hard  to  be 
discerned.'  'Why,'  quoth  your  friend,  'what  faults  were 
there  in  it?'  'To  tell  you  all  that,'  quoth  I,  'were  in  a 
manner  to  rehearse  you  all  the  whole  book,  wherein  there 
were  found  and  noted  wrong  or  falsely  translated  above  a 
thousand  texts  by  tale.'  *  I  would,'  quoth  he,  '  fain  hear 
some  one.'  '  He  that  should,'  quoth  I,  '  study  for  that, 
should  study  where  to  find  water  in  the  sea.  But  I  will 
show  you  for  ensample  two  or  three  such  as  every  one  of  the 
three  is  more  than  thrice  three  in  one.'  '  That  were,'  quoth 
he,  '  very  strange,  except  ye  mean  more  in  weight ;  for  one 
can  be  but  one  in  number.'  '  Surely,'  quoth  I,  'as  weighty 
be  they  as  any  lightly  can  be.  But  I  mean  that  every  one 
of  them  is  more  than  thrice  three  in  number.'  '  That  were,' 
quoth  he,  '  somewhat  like  a  riddle.'  '  This  riddle,'  quoth  I, 
'  will  soon  be  read.  For  he  hath  mistranslated  three  words 
of  great  weight,  and  every  one  of  them  is,  as  I  suppose, 
more  than  thrice  three  times  repeated  and  rehearsed  in  the 
book.'  '  Ah,  that  may  well  be,'  quoth  he ;  '  but  that  was 
not  well  done.  But,  I  pray  you,  what  words  be  they?' 
'  The  one  is,'  quoth  I,  '  this  word  priests;  the  other,  the 
church;  the  third,  charity."^ 

This  was  the  head  and  front  of  Tyndale's  offending. 
He  had  discarded  some  of  the  familiar  ecclesiastical  words, 
employing  common  words  in  their  place.  For  church  he 
uses  congregation^  as  More's  friend  Erasmus  had  (sometimes) 
done  before  him ;  for  priest  he  uses  senior^  as  a  less  am- 
biguous word ;  grace  gives  way  to  favour^  confess  to  know- 

^  More's  Dialogtce^  book  iii.,  ch.  8.     See  Arber,  Preface,  p.  55. 


Tyndale  and  the   Wycliffite    Versions.  91 

ledge  (that  is,  achioivledge)^  pena7ice  to  repentance.  "  Senior," 
Tyndale  admits,  "is  no  very  good  English;"  and  in  his 
later  editions  he  puts  eider  in  its  place.  Whatever  judgment 
may  be  passed  on  Tyndale's  procedure,  his  defence  deserves 
consideration  ;^  surely  at  a  time  when  so  many  injurious  and 
false  notions  were  attached  to  the  words  in  question,  a 
translator  might  well  take  refuge  in  simple  terms  of  un- 
doubted signification.  Even  should  the  older  terms  be 
restored  at  length,  to  have  been  reminded  of  their  proper 
meaning  would  be  a  gain  to  every  reader. 

One  other  point  remains,  a  point  referred  to  in  an  earlier 
paper,^  but  left  for  consideration  in  this  place.  Was  Tyn- 
dale indebted  in  any  degree  to  the  early  EngHsh  versions  of 
Wycliffe,  Hereford,  and  Purvey  ?  It  is  hardly  possible  that 
he  can  have  been  unacquainted  with  these  versions,  though, 
as  we  have  seen,  they  were  not  printed  for  two  or  three 
centuries  after  Tyndale's  age.  A  very  able  writer  on  the 
English  language,  Mr.  G.  P.  Marsh,  considers  it  certain  that 
"  Tyndale  is  merely  a  full-grown  Wycliffe."  "  His  recension 
of  the  New  Testament  is  just  what  his  great  predecessor 
would  have  made  it,  had  he  awaked  again  to  see  the  da^vn 
of  that  glorious  day  of  which  his  own  life  and  labours  kindled 
the  morning  twilight.  Not  only  does  Tyndale  retain  the 
general  grammatical  structure  of  the  older  version,  but  most 
of  its  felicitous  verbal  combinations,  and,  what  is  more  re- 
markable, he  preserves  even  the  rhythmic  flow  of  its  periods, 
which  is  again  repeated  in  the  recension  of  16 11.  Wyclifl"e, 
then,  must  be  considered  as  having  originated  the  diction 
and  phraseology  which  for  five  centuries  have  constituted 
the  consecrated  dialect  of  the  EngUsh  speech  ;  and  Tyndale 
as  having  given  to  it  that  finish  and  perfection  which  have 

1  See  his  Works,  vol.  i.,  pp.  16 — 24  (Parker  Society). 

2  See  above,  p.  30. 


92  The  English  Bible. 

so  admirably  adapted  it  to  the  expression  of  religious 
doctrine  and  sentiment,  and  to  the  narration  of  that  remark- 
able series  of  historical  facts  which  are  recorded  in  the 
Christian  Scriptures/'^  On  the  other  hand,  Tyndale  must 
be  heard  in  his  ov/n  cause.  "Them  that  are  learned 
Christianly,"  he  says,^  "  I  beseech  .  .  .  that  they  con- 
sider how  that  I  had  no  man  to  counterfeit "  (that  is,  imi- 
tate), "neither  was  holpen  with  English  of  any  that  had 
interpreted  the  same  or  such  like  thing  in  the  Scripture 
beforetime."  These  words  do  not  disavow  all  knowledge 
of  the  earlier  version,  but  they  distinctly  deny  that  that 
version  served  as  a  basis  for  the  new  work.  A  comparison 
of  the  two  translations  (if  we  bear  in  mind  that  they  are 
translations — one  avowedly  taken  from  the  Vulgate,  the 
other  frequently  influenced  by  the  Vulgate)  will  fully  confirm 
Tyndale's  statement.  Again  and  again  we  meet  with  start- 
ling resemblances,  but  on  examination  it  becomes  evident 
that  the  Vulgate  has  supplied  the  connecting  link.  At  first 
sight  it  appears  strange  that  in  Col.  i.  13  both  versions 
should  have  the  word  "  translated ; "  that  in  both  we  should 
read  "pinnacle  of  the  temple"  in  Matt.  iv.  5;  "compre- 
hended" in  John  i.  5  ;  "tribulation  and  anguish"  in  Rom. 
ii.  9  :  for  in  none  of  these  examples  is  there  anything  in  the 
Greek  which  compels  the  adoption  of  one  particular  English 
word.  When  we  observe  that  the  familiar  Latin  words  are 
transtulit^  pinnaculwn^  comprehenderwit^  tribiilatio  et  angustia, 
we  understand  at  once  the  coincidences  in  the  EngHsh. 
We  are,  however,  willing  to  admit  that  this  explanation  will 
not  account  for  every  instance  of  affinity  between  Tyndale 
and  Wycliffe.  Many  of  the  earlier  renderings  must  have 
become  current  phrases ;  proverbial  sayings  from  the  New 

1  Lectures  on  the  English  Langtiage,  p.  447  (Murray). 

2  In  the  Address  to  the  Reader,  added  to  the  octavo  edition  of  his 
New  Testament  {1525). 


Tyndale  and  the    Wycliffite    Versions.  93 

Testament  could  hardly  fail  to  present  themselves  to  the 
new  translator  in  their  familiar  guise.  Hence  we  cannot  be 
surprised  to  find  that  "mote"  and  "  beam''  are  common  to 
both  versions  of  Matt.  vii.  3 ;  that  "  God  forbid  "  is  used  in 
both,  though  the  Greek  phrase  is  altogether  different  in 
form;  that  the  promise  of  the  "Comforter"  remains  un- 
changed, though  the  Latin  translations  either  retain  the 
Greek  word  (the  "  Paraclete  ")  or  express  it  by  "  Advocate; " 
that  in  Matt.  vii.  6  both  Wycliffe  and  Tyndale  adopt  a 
rendering  (not  suggested  either  by  the  Greek  or  by  the 
Latin)  which  refers  the  "trampling"  to  the  "swine,"  the 
"rending"  to  the  "dogs;"  or  that  in  the  14th  verse  of  the 
same  chapter  both  speak  of  the  "gate"  as  "strait,"  of  the 
"  way  "  as  "  narrow."  We  might  even  concede  to  Mr.  Marsh 
that  Wychffe  and  his  coadjutors  had  in  some  degree  suc- 
ceeded in  fixing  the  general  character  and  style  of  an  English 
version  of  the  Bible,  and  that  through  their  labours  English- 
men had  been  taught  to  look  for  simplicity  and  literalness 
of  rendering  instead  of  idiomatic  paraphrase.^  When  all 
this  allowance  has  been  made — and  in  making  it  we  are 
convinced  that  we  have  rather  enhanced  than  depreciated 
the  just  rights  of  the  older  versions — Tyndale's  claims  on 
our  gratitude  remain  unimpaired ;  he  is  still  the  father  of 
our  present  version.  The  labours  of  his  successors  effected 
many  improvements  in  detail,  but  the  plan  and  spirit  of  the 
work  have  been  left  unchanged.  Mr.  Froude's  well-known 
words,  if  understood  of  the  whole  rather  than  of  each  part, 
if  read  with  the  recollection  that  Tyndale  was  cut  off  before 

1  "The  language  of  the  Court  or  of  scholars  is  as  far  as  possible 
avoided,  and  that  of  the  people  followed.  In  this  respect  the  principle 
has  been  acted  on  by  later  translators.  The  style  of  Wycliffe  is  to  that 
of  Chaucer  as  Tyndale's  is  to  Surrey's,  or  that  of  the  Authorised  Version 
to  Ben  Jonson's." — Prof.  Plumptre,  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Bible ^  iii., 
1667. 


94  The  English  Bible. 

his  cherished  task  was  finished,  and  that  others  entered  into 
his  labours  and  made  his  work  complete,  are  as  just  as  they 
are  eloquent : — 

"  Of  the  translation  itself,  though  since  that  time  it  has 
been  many  times  revised  and  altered,  we  may  say  that  it  is 
substantially  the  Bible  with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  The 
peculiar  genius — if  such  a  word  may  be  permitted — which 
breathes  through  it — the  mingled  tenderness  and  "majesty — 
the  Saxon  simplicity — the  preternatural  grandeur — un- 
equalled, unapproached  in  the  attempted  improvements  of 
modern  scholars — all  are  here,  and  bear  the  impress  of  the 
mind  of  one  man — William  Tyndale.  Lying,  while  engaged 
in  that  great  office,  under  the  shadow  of  death,  the  sword 
above  his  head  and  ready  at  any  moment  to  fall,  he  worked, 
under  circumstances  alone  perhaps  truly  worthy  of  the  task 
which  was  laid  upon  him — his  spirit,  as  it  were  divorced 
from  the  world,  moved  in  a  purer  element  than  common 
air."i 

^  History  of  England ^  vol.  iii.,  p.  84. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MILES     COVERDALE. 1. 

The  next  stage  of  our  history  is  widely  different  from  that 
which  preceded  it.  Our  interest  has  been  concentrated  on 
Tyndale,  and  hence  it  is  rather  the  Continent  than  England 
which  has  occupied  our  thoughts.  We  have  followed  from 
labour  to  labour  the  zealous  translator  who,  almost  alone, 
with  little  help  or  encouragement,  strove  unremittingly  to 
fulfil  his  appointed  task  until  martyrdom  stayed  his  unfinished 
work.  The  scene  now  changes  to  English  ground :  the 
chief  actor  is  one  who  afterwards  became  a  bishop  of  the 
English  Church. 

Of  the  early  life  of  Miles  Coverdale  very  little  is  known, 
nor  indeed  have  we  more  than  scanty  information  respecting 
many  of  his  later  years.  It  has  been  supposed  that  Cover- 
dale's  name  points  to  his  birth-place,  and  that,  like  Wycliffe, 
he  was  a  native  of  North  Yorkshire.  The  year  of  his  birth 
was  1488. 

The  first  notice  which  we  possess  connects  him  with  the 
monastery  of  the  Augustine  Friars  at  Cambridge,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  Dr.  Robert  Barnes,  well  known  in  the  early 
records  of  the  Reformation.  In  1526,  when  Barnes  was 
required  on  pain  of  death  to  abjure  the  errors  laid  to  his 
charge,  Coverdale  stood  by  his  side.  His  earliest  extant 
writing  is  a  letter  which  (probably  in  1527)  he  writes  to 
Thomas  Cromwell,  then  one  of  Wolsey's  dependents,  after- 
wards his  successor  as  Lord  High  Chancellor.  In  this  letter 
Coverdale   refers   to   the    "  godly  communication "    which 


96  TJie  English  Bible. 

Cromwell  had  had  with  him  in  the  house  of  "  Master 
Moore"  (Sir  Thomas  More),  and  earnestly  solicits  assist- 
ance in  the  prosecution  of  sacred  studies.  "  Now,"  he  says, 
"  I  begin  to  taste  of  holy  scriptures  ;  now,  honour  be  to 
God  !  I  am  set  to  the  most  sweet  smell  of  holy  letters,  with 
the  godly  savour  of  holy  and  ancient  doctors,  unto  whose 
knowledge  I  cannot  attain  without  diversity  of  books,  as 
is  not  unknown  to  your  most  excellent  wisdom.  Nothing 
in  the  world  I  desire  but  books,  as  concerning  my  learning ; 
they  once  had,  I  do  not  doubt  but  Almighty  God  shall  per- 
form that  in  me  which  He  of  His  most  plentiful  favour  and 
grace  hath  begun." ^ 

If  we  pass  over  some  incidental  notices  of  his  preaching, 
very  interesting  as  showing  the  distinct  opposition  which  he 
offered  to  the  errors  of  the  Romish  Church,  the  next  refer- 
ence to  Coverdale  is  presented  in  Foxe's  statement  (quoted 
above,  p.  54),  that  in  1529  he  assisted  Tyndale  in  translating 
the  Pentateuch.  It  is  impossible  to  say  what  reliance  is  to 
be  placed  on  the  details  of  this  isolated  statement-  but  the 
passage  has  the  look  of  truth,  and  some  of  the  minor  parti- 
culars have  recently  been  proved  accurate.^  We  cannot 
indeed  regard  Tyndale  and  Coverdale  as  co-translators, 
working  on  common  principles :  as  will  be  shown  here- 
after, the  work  of  each  differs  essentially  from  that  of 
the  other.  Still  Tyndale  would  certainly  welcome,  and 
would  receive  valuable  assistance  from,  such  a  companion 
as  Coverdale,  whose  zeal  in  the  good  work  was  only 
equalled  by  his  retiring  modesty.  After  this  Coverdale 
passes  away  from  view  until  the  appearance  of  the  first 
Enghsh  Bible,  in  1535. 

How  eventful  were  the  intervening  years  in  England  is 
known  to  every  reader.     In  1529  Wolsey  is  dismissed  from 

^  Coverdale's  Remains,,  p.  490.     (Parker  Society.) 
2  Demaus,  Life  of  Tyndale,  p.  229 . 


Henry    VIII.  mid  the  English  Bible.  97 

office;   the    great   seal   is    committed   to    More;  Cranmer 
receives  his  first  pubHc  employment.      In  1531   Henry  is 
declared  supreme  head  of  the  Church  of  England.     In  1533 
the  King  marries  Anne  Boleyn,  notwithstanding  the  threats 
of  the    Pope ;    and    shortly   after   the  papal   authority   in 
England  is  formally  annulled.     Fisher  and  More  pay  the 
penalty  of  their  lives  for  their  denial  of  the  king's  supremacy 
(1535)-     The  rapid  changes  which  the  scantiest  historical 
summary  reveals  could  not  but  be  attended  with  alternations 
in  the  fortunes  of  the  English  Bible.     In  1526  Tyndale's 
New  Testament  was  formally  proscribed  by  Tunstall,  Bishop 
of  London,  and  Warham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.    Three 
years  later  the  king  issued  a  proclamation  against  heretical 
books,   and   amongst   these   Tyndale's  writings    (including 
his   New   Testament)  were   expressly  specified.     In    1530 
the  condemnation  of  these  books  by  an  assembly  of  learned 
men  (after  a  conference   of  twelve   days)  was   succeeded 
by  another  royal  proclamation   "against  great  errors  and 
pestilent  heresies,  with  all  the  books  containing  the  same, 
with  the  translation  also  of  Scripture  corrupted  by  William 
Tyndale,  as  well   in   the  Old  Testament  as  in  the  New, 
and  all  other  books  in  English  containing  such  errors."     In 
a  "  Bill  in  EngHsh  to  be  published  by  the  preachers,"  we 
read  : — 

"  Finally  it  appeared  that  having  of  the  whole  Scripture 
is  not  necessary  to  Christian  men ;  and  like  as  the  having  of 
the  Scripture  in  the  vulgar  tongue  and  in  the  common 
people's  hands  hath  been  by  the  holy  Fathers  of  the  Church 
in  some  times  thought  meet  and  convenient,  so  at  another 
time  it  hath  been  thought  not  expedient  to  be  communicate 
amongst  them.  Wherein,  forasmuch  as  the  King's  High- 
ness, by  the  advice  and  deliberation  of  his  council,  and  the 
agreement  of  great  learned  men,  thinketh  in  his  conscience 
that   the  divulging  of  this  Scripture  at  this   time  in   the 


98  The  English  Bible. 

English  tongue,  to  be  committed  to  the  people,  should 
rather  be  to  the  farther  confusion  and  destruction  than  the 
edification  of  their  souls.  And  it  was  thought  there  in  that 
assembly,  to  all  and  singular  in  that  congregation,  that  the 
King's  Highness  and  the  Prelates  in  so  doing,  not  suffer- 
ing the  Scripture  to  be  divulged  and  communicate  to  the 
people  in  the  English  tongue  at  this  time,  doth  well.  '  And 
I  also  think '  (was  the  preacher  to  say)  '  and  judge  the 
same ;  exhorting  and  moving  you,  that  in  consideration 
his  Highness  did  there  openly  say  and  protest  that  he 
would  cause  the  New  Testament  to  be  by  learned  men 
faithfully  and  purely  translated  into  the  English  tongue, 
to  the  intent  he  might  have  it  in  his  hands  ready  to 
be  given  to  his  people,  as  he  might  see  their  manners 
and  behaviour  meet,  apt,  and  convenient  to  receive  the 
same.'"i 

In  a  noble  letter  written  to  the  king  in  December,  1530, 
Hugh  Latimer  boldly  reminded  Henry  of  his  promise  ;  and 
as  the  faithful  monitor  was  soon  afterwards  made  a  royal 
chaplain,  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  this  promise  faithfully 
expressed  the  intentions  of  the  king.^ 

In  1533  Cranmer  was  made  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ; 
and  the  Convocation  over  which  he  presided  in  1534  made 
petition  to  the  king  that  "his  Majesty  would  vouchsafe  to 
decree  that  the  Scriptures  should  be  translated  into  the 
vulgar  tongue  by  some  honest  and  learned  men,  to  be 
nominated  by  the  king,  and  to  be  delivered  to  the  people 
according  to  their  learning."^  In  this  year  Coverdale  com- 
mitted his  Bible  to  the  press,  and  the  printing  was  finished 
on  the  4th  of  October,  1535.  The  place  of  publication  is 
still  a  matter  of  dispute,  but   the  probability  is  that  the 

^  Anderson,  Annals  of  the  English  Bible^  vol.  i.,  pp.  257,  258. 
2  Demaus,  Life  of  Latimer ^  p.  103. 
^  Anderson,  Annals^  vol.  i.,  p.  414. 


Covei'dale  in  Paris,  99 

volume  was  printed  by  Froschover,  of  Zurich.^  Though 
issued  under  the  patronage  of  Cromwell,  and  dedicated  to 
Henry  VIII.,  the  book  appeared  without  express  license. 
In  1536  Convocation  petitioned  the  king  "that  he  would 
graciously  indulge  unto  his  subjects  of  the  laity  the  reading 
of  the  Bible  in  the  English  tongue,  and  that  a  new  trans- 
lation of  it  might  be  forthwith  made  for  that  end  and 
purpose."^ 

The  following  year  a  second  and  a  third  edition  of 
Coverdale's  Bible  were  pubHshed  by  Nycolson,  of  South- 
wark  ;  and  here  at  last  we  read  at  the  foot  of  the  title-page, 
"  Sett  forth  with  the  Kynges  most  gracious  license." 

We  next  find  Coverdale  in  Paris,  engaged,  under  Crom- 
well's direction  and  patronage,  on  Biblical  work,  the  nature  of 
which  will  presently  appear.  In  the  same  year  were  published 
three  editions  of  a  Latin-English  Testament,  containing  the 
ordinary  Latin  text  of  the  New  Testament  (the  Vulgate),  with 
an  English  rendering  by  Coverdale.  All  these  labours  on  the 
translation  of  Scripture  will  presently  be  noticed  in  detail.  As 
long  as  Cromwell  lived,  Coverdale  seems  to  have  retained 
his  close  connexion  with  his  patron.  His  last  letters  to 
Cromwell  are  dated  from  Newbury,  where  he  is  employed 
in  proceedings  against  Romish  usages  and  books.  In  July, 
1540,  Cromwell  died  on  the  scaffold.  Coverdale  appears  to 
have  left  England  for  Germany  in  the  same  year,  for  in  a 
letter  to  John  Calvin,  written  from  Frankfort  in  1548,  he 
speaks  of  his  approaching  return  to  England,  •'  after  an  exile 
of  eight  years."     During  this  exile  he  was  occupied  with  the 

1  See,  however,  the  Caxton  Celebration  Catalogue,  p.  88,  where 
Mr.  Stevens  gives  reasons  for  believing  that  this  Bible  was  printed  at 
Antwerp,  at  the  cost  and  charges  of  Jacob  van  Meteren.  That  the 
translation  was  by  any  other  hand  than  Coverdale's  we  should  be  very 
slow  to  believe. 

2  Anderson,  vol.  i.,  p.  562. 

H  2 


100  The  English  Bible. 


a ' 


instruction  of  pupils,  and  with  the  care  of  a  church  at 
Bergzabern,  not  far  from  Strasburg.  On  the  accession  of 
Edward  VI.  he  was  made  one  of  the  king's  chaplains.  His 
appointment  on  the  commission  against  Anabaptists  (1550) 
is  another  proof  of  the  high  estimation  in  which  he  now  was 
held.  In  155 1  he  was  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Exeter, 
a  preferment  which  he  retained  for  two  years  only,  being 
deprived  of  his  see  on  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary.  For 
some  months  Coverdale  remained  in  a  position  of  consider- 
able peril ;  many  a  less  active  opponent  of  the  party  now 
in  power  atoned  for  his  zeal  by  the  sacrifice  of  his  life. 
Coverdale  owed  his  release  to  the  intercession  of  the  King 
of  Denmark.  After  a  second  exile  of  about  three  years, 
towards  the  close  of  which  period  we  find  him  at  Geneva, 
he  returned  to  England  in  1558.  In  1564  he  was  appointed 
to  the  living  of  St.  Magnus  the  Martyr,  London  Bridge  ;  but 
either  through  the  pressure  of  age  and  infirmity,  or  in  con- 
sequence of  his  adhesion  to  the  views  of  the  Puritan  party 
in  the  matter  of  vestments,  &c.,  he  retained  his  benefice 
only  two  years.  He  died  in  February,  1569.  His  cha- 
racter is  faithfully  reflected  in  his  writings,  especially  in 
the  work  which  will  immediately  come  under  review. 
The  brief  sketch  which  we  have  given  is  sufficient  to 
show  how  zealous,  consistent,  and  devoted  was  the  life 
of  the  second  labourer  in  the  field  which  .we  are  here 
surveying. 

The  BibHcal  labours  of  Coverdale  may  be  divided  into 
two  classes,  distinguished  by  a  very  simple  criterion. 
Some  translations  bear  his  name ;  his  connexion  with 
others  is  only  matter  of  inference.  We  are  now  concerned 
with  the  former  class,  in  which  are  included  the  Bible  of 
1535  (1537,  1550J  1553)  and  the  Latin-Enghsh  Testaments 
of  1538.  It  is  somewhat  surprising  that  the  character  of 
Coverdale's  Bible  should  have  been  greatly  misunderstood. 


Cover  dales  ^'Proloziier  lOi 


-^<b 


Had  the  translator  left  his  work  to  make  its  own  impres- 
sion, the  misunderstanding  might  have  been  natural ;  but 
nothing  can  be  clearer  than  the  language  which  he  uses  in 
his  Prologue  "unto  the  Christian  Reader."  "Consider- 
ing how  excellent  knowledge  and  learning  an  interpreter  of 
Scripture  ought  to  have  in  the  tongues,  and  pondering  also 
mine  own  insufficiency  therein,  and  how  weak  I  am  to 
perform  the  office  of  a  translator,  I  was  the  more  loath  to 
meddle  with  this  work.  Notwithstanding,  when  I  con- 
sidered how  great  pity  it  was  that  we  should  want  it  so 
long,  and  called  to  my  remembrance  the  adversity  of  them 
which  were  not  only  of  ripe  knowledge,  but  would  also 
with  all  their  hearts  have  performed  that  they  began,  if 
they  had  not  had  impediment ;  considering,  I  say,  that  by 
reason  of  their  adversity  it  could  not  so  soon  have  been 
brought  to  an  end  as  our  most  prosperous  nation  would 
fain  have  had  it ;  these  and  other  reasonable  causes  con- 
sidered, I  was  the  more  bold  to  take  it  in  hand.  And  to 
help  me  herein  I  have  had  sundry  translations,^  not  only  in 
Latin,  but  also  of  the  Dutch  interpreteis,  whom  (because  of 
their  singular  gifts  and  special  diligence  in  the  Bible)  I 
have  been  the  more  glad  to  follow  for  the  most  part, 
according  as  I  was  required.  But,  to  say  the  truth  before 
God,  it  was  neither  my  labour  nor  desire  to  have  this  work* 
put  in  my  hand ;  nevertheless  it  grieved  me  that  other 
nations  should  be  more  plenteously  provided  for  with  the 
Scripture  in  their  mother  tongue  than  we ;  therefore,  when 
I  was  instantly  required,  though  I  could  not  do  so  well  as  I 
would,  I  thought  it  yet  my  duty  to  do  my  best,  and  that 
with  a  good  will.  Whereas  some  men  think  now  that  many 
translations  make  division  in  the  faith  and  in  the  people  of 

1  In  his  Dedication  to  the  king,  Coverdale  speaks  of  himself  as 
having  "with  a  clear  conscience  purely  and  faithfully  translated  out  of 
five  sundry  interpreters." 


102  The  English  Bible. 

God,  that  is  not  so  ;  for  it  was  never  better  with  the  con- 
gregation of  God   than  when  every  church  almost  had  the 

Bible  of  a  sundry  translation Now  whereas 

the  most  famous  interpreters  of  all  give  sundry  judgments 
of  the  text  (so  far  as  it  is  done  by  the  spirit  of  knowledge 
in  the  Holy  Ghost),  methink  no  man  should  be  offended 
thereat,  for  they  refer  their  doings  in  meekness  to  the  spirit 
of  truth  in  the  congregation  of  God ;  and  sure  I  am  that 
there  cometh  more  knowledge  and  \mderstanding  of  the 
Scripture  by  their  sundry  translations,  than  by  all  the 
glosses  of  our  sophistical  doctors.  For  that  one  inter- 
preteth  something  obscurely  in  one  place,  the  same  trans- 
lateth  another  (or  else  he  himself)  more  manifestly  by  a 
more  plain  vocable  of  the  same  meaning  in  another  place. 
Be  not  thou  offended  therefore,  good  reader,  though  one 
call  a  scribe  that  another  calleth  a  laivyer ;  or  elders  that 
another  calleth  father  and  mother ;  or  repenta7ice  that 
another  calleth  penance  or  amend7?ie?it.  For  if  thou  be  not 
deceived  by  men's  traditions,  thou  shalt  find  no  more 
diversity  between  these  terms  than  between  fourpence  and 
a  groat.  And  this  manner  have  I  used  in  my  translation, 
calling  it  in  some  place  penafice,  that  in  another  I  call 
repe7itance  ;  and  that  not  only  because  the  interpreters  have 
done  so  before  me,  but  that  the  adversaries  of  the  truth 
may  see  how  that  we  abhor  not  this  word  penance,  as  they 
untruly  report  of  us,  no  more  than  the  interpreters  of 
Latin  Sihhoi  poejiitere,  when  they  read  resipiscei-e." 

Three  things  are  clear  from  this  quotation.  First, 
Coverdale  did  not  seek  the  work  of  translation.  Though 
full  of  zeal  in  sacred  study,  he  was  not  the  man  who  would 
aspire  to  speak  with  the  authoritative  voice  of  a  translator. 
The  commission  was  pressed  on  him  by  others,  who  urged 
the  claims  of  duty  and  prevailed.  Secondly,  as  a  trans- 
lator Coverdale  instinctively  adopted  a  policy  of  mediation. 


Cover  dales  Bible.  103 

Tyndale  would  discard  words  which  had  been  misunder- 
stood, though  his  strictness  might  isolate  him  from  all 
ecclesiastical  writings.  Coverdale  now  accepts  the  current 
term,  now  adopts  the  explanation,  that  he  may  show  the 
equivalence  of  the  two,  if  rightly  understood.  But  the 
most  important  point  is  this.  Coverdale  expressly  dis- 
claims the  honour  of  direct  translation.  Not  the  original 
tongues,  but  sundry  interpreters,  German  and  Latin, 
are  the  sources  of  his  work.  Before  entering  on  the 
various  questions  which  have  been  raised  in  connexion 
with  this  subject,  we  will  give  some  specimens  of  the 
translation  itself  The  passages  selected  are  those  which 
have  already  been  given  in  Tyndale's  version  (see 
pp.  80,  Zi),  viz.,  Numb.  xxiv.  15 — 24,  Isa.  xii.,  Col.  i. 
9—17. 

NUMBERS    XXIV.    1$ — 24. 

And  he  toke  vp  his  parable,  and  sayde  :  Thus  sayeth  Balaam  the 
Sonne  of  Beor  :  Thus  sayeth  the  man  whose  eyes  are  opened :  Thus 
sayeth  he  which  heareth  the  wordes  of  God,  &  that  hath  the  knowlege 
of  the  hyest,  euen  he  that  sawe  the  vision  of  the  Allmightie,  &  fell 
downe,  and  his  eyes  were  opened  :  I  shal  se  him,  but  not  now : 
I  shal  beholde  him,  but  not  nie  at  hande.  There  shal  a  starre 
come  out  of  Jacob,  &  a  cepter  shall  come  vp  out  of  Israel,  and 
shal  smyte  the  rulers  of  the  Moabites,  and  ouercome  all  the  children 
of  Seth. 

Edom  shalbe  his  possession,  and  Seir  shalbe  his  enemies  possession, 
but  Israel  shal  do  manfully.  Out  of  Jacob  shal  come  he  that  hath 
dominion,  and  shall  destroye  the  remnaunt  of  the  cities. 

And  whan  he  sawe  the  Amalechites,  he  toke  vp  his  parable,  & 
sayde  :  Amalec  the  first  amonge  the  Heithen,  but  at  the  last  thou  shalt 
perishe  vtterly.  And  whan  he  sawe  the  Kenites,  he  toke  vp  his 
parable,  &  sayde :  Stronge  is  thy  dwellinge,  and  on  a  rocke  hast  thou 
put  thy  nest,  neuertheles  thou  shalt  be  a  burninge  vnto  Kain,  tyll  Assur 
take  the  presoner. 

And  he  toke  vp  his  parable  agayne,  &  sayde  :  Alas,  who  shal  lyue, 
whan  God  doth  this  ?  And  shippes  out  of  Citim  shall  subdue  Assur 
and  Eber.     He  himself  also  shal  perishe  vtterly. 


104  1^^^^  English  Bible. 

ISAIAH   XII. 

So  that  then  thou  shalt  saye  :  O  Lorde,  I  thanke  the,  for  thou  wast 
displeased  at  me,  but  thou  hast  refrayned  thy  wrath,  and  hast  mercy 
upon  me.  Beholde,  God  is  my  health,  in  whom  I  trust,  and  am  not 
afrayde.  For  the  Lorde  God  is  my  strength,  and  my  prayse,  he  also 
shalbe  my  refuge.  Therefore  with  ioye  shal  ye  drawe  water  out  of  the 
Welles  of  the  Sauioure,  and  then  shal  ye  saye :  Let  us  geue  thankes 
unto  the  Lorde,  and  call  vpon  his  name,  and  declare  his  councels 
amonge  the  people,  and  kepe  them  in  remembraunce,  for  his  name  is 
excellent.  O  synge  praises  vnto  the  Lorde,  for  he  doth  greate  things, 
as  it  is  knowne  in  all  the  worlde.  Crie  out,  and  be  glad,  thou  that 
dwellest  in  Sion,  for  greate  is  thy  prince  :  the  holy  one  of  Israel. 

COLOSSIANS    I.    9 — 17. 

For  this  cause  we  also,  sence  the  daye  that  we  herde  of  it,  ceasse 
not  to  praye  for  you,  &  desyre  that  ye  mighte  be  fulfylled  with  the 
knowlege  of  his  will,  in  all  wyszdome  and  spirituall  vnderstondinge, 
that  ye  mighte  walke  worthy  off  the  Lorde,  to  please  him  in  all  thi'nges, 
and  to  be  frutefull  in  all  good  workes,  and  growe  in  the  knowlege  of 
God :  &  to  be  strengthed  with  all  power  acordinge  to  the  mighte  of 
his  glory,  to  all  pacience  and  longsufiferynge  with  ioyfulness,  and  geue 
thankes  vnto  the  father,  which  hath  made  vs  mete  for  the  enheritaunce 
of  sayntes  in  lighte. 

Which  hath  delyuered  vs  from  the  power  of  darknesse,  &  translated 
vs  in  to  the  kyngdome  of  his  deare  sonne  (in  whom  we  haue  redempcion 
thorow  his  bloude,  namely,  the  forgeuenes  of  synnes).  "Which  is  the 
ymage  of  the  inuisyble  God,  first  begotten  before  all  creatures.  For  by 
him  were  all  thinges  created,  that  are  in  heauen  and  earth,  thinges 
vysible  and  thinges  inuysible,  whether  they  be  maiesties  or  lordshippes, 
ether  rules  or  powers  :  All  thinges  are  created  by  hinS  and  in  him,  and 
he  is  before  all  thinges,  and  in  him  all  thinges  haue  their  beynge. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

MILES      COVERDALE. II. 

In  dealing  with  Coverdale's  Bible,  as  in  every  similar  case, 
we  have  two  questions  before  us  :  What  are  the  charac- 
teristic features  of  the  version  ?  From  what  sources  is 
it  derived,  and  with  what  helps  was  it  executed  ?  In  this 
particular  instance  the  latter  question  may  with  advantage 
take  precedence,  not  only  because  of  its  intrinsic  impor- 
tance, but  also  because  the  quotation  already  given  (p.  loi) 
from  the  Prologue  has  brought  the  subject  into  promi- 
nence. Coverdale's  own  words  would  prepare  us  for  find- 
ing httle  originality  in  his  work.  Had  we  no  specimen  of 
his  translation,  we  should  conclude  that  he  ought  to  be 
placed  in  the  same  class  with  Wycliffe  and  Purvey  rather 
than  with  Tyndale.  The  title-page  alleges  that  the  work 
has  been  faithfully  translated  out  of  Dutch  {i.e.^  German) 
and  Latin  into  English.  It  is  true  that  other  copies  of  the 
book  have  a  title-page  from  which  these  words  are  absent ; 
but  the  agreement  between  them  and  Coverdale's  statement, 
already  quoted,  is  so  complete,  that  we  cannot  but  regard 
the  title  as  presenting  Coverdale's  own  description  of  his 
work.  The  reader  may  be  surprised  to  learn  that  so  clear 
a  statement  has  been  challenged,  but  such  is  the  fact. 

In  1818  a  new  translation  of  a  portion  of  the  Old 
Testament  was  published  by  Dr.  Bellamy,  who  justified  his 
enterprise  by  laboured  and  wholesale  depreciation  of  the 
existing  versions.  According  to  this  writer,  "the  common 
translations  in  all  the  European  languages  were  made  from 


io6  The  English  Bible. 

the  modem  Septuagint  and  the  Vulgate  ;"  and,  in  particular, 
''  the  present  authorised  version  and  all  the  national  ver- 
sions of  Europe  were  translated  from  the  Vulgate."     These 
extravagant  assertions  were  strongly  controverted  by  Dr. 
Whittaker,  in  An  Historical  and  Critical  Enquiry  i?ito  the 
Inte7'pretation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.     Unfortunately  the 
critic  was  himself  led  into  extremes.     In  his  zeal  to  prove 
that  our  translators  had  not  been  servile  imitators  of  Jerome 
and  others,  Whittaker  stoutly  maintained  that  Coverdale  as 
well  as  Tyndale  had  translated  directly  from  the  Hebrew 
original.      Coverdale's  avowal   that    he   translated    out    of 
"  five  interpreters  "  is  explained  as  a  mere  acknowledgment 
of  help  received,  such  help  as  every  conscientious  translator 
will  seek.     As  to  the  statement  in  the  title,  Dr.  Whittaker 
owns  that  he  had  not  been  able  to  consult  a  copy  of  the 
book  in  which  the  title-page  had  been  preserved,  but  adds 
that,  if  the  words  are  found  there,  "  the  title-page  contains 
a  very  great  misapprehension."     This  bold  language  is  the 
result  of  a  defective  knowledge  of  the  facts  of  the  case. 
Coverdale's  five  translators,  Whittaker  maintains,  "  can  have 
been  no  other  than  the  Latin  Vulgate,  the  Latin  of  Pagninus, 
the  German  of  Luther,  a  Dutch  translation  of  Luther,  and 
a  German  translation  of  the  Vulgate."     These  five  are,  of 
course,  practically  three — two  Latin,  and  one  German.     In 
some  passages,  however,  as  Isaiah  Ivii.  5  ("  Ye  take  youre 
pleasure  vnder  the  okes,  and  vnder  all  grene  trees  "),  Cover- 
dale  agrees  with  no  one  of  these  versions,  nor  with  the 
Septuagint.     If,  then,  the  premises  be  granted,  viz.,  that  no 
other  version  than  these  could  possibly  be  consulted,  the 
conclusion  will  be  clear.      Coverdale's  translation  of  the 
passage  (which  agrees  in  the  main  with  the  true  sense  of 
the  original)  must  come  directly  from  the  Hebrew.     Whit- 
taker's  mistake  (which  has  been  endorsed  by  many  later 
writers)  has  been  exposed  by  Dr.  Ginsburg,  who  shows  that 


Variations  between  Coverdale  and  Tyndale.      107 

in  this  and  many  other  passages  Coverdale  has  followed 
the  version  by  Leo  Juda  and  others  (see  p.  42),  commonly 
called  the  Zurich  Bible.  This  version  Whittaker  cannot 
have  examined ;  as,  however,  he  makes  a  passing  reference 
to  it  in  another  place,  it  is  not  a  Httle  surprising  that  he 
should  have  excluded  it  from  the  list  of  the  authorities 
accessible  to  our  translator.  That  this  version  was  acces- 
sible to  Coverdale  would  be  in  every  way  probable, 
even  were  the  proof  of  his  actual  use  of  it  much  less 
complete. 

It  is  not  easy  to  decide  which  were  the  "  five "  inter- 
preters whom  Coverdale  "  was  glad  to  follow,"  but  the 
question  is  one  of  great  interest.  If  the  reader  will  care- 
fully compare  the  two  translations  of  Numbers  xxiv.  15 — 
24  which  have  been  given  (pp.  83,  103)  from  Tyndale's 
Pentateuch  and  Coverdale's  Bible  respectively,  he  will 
find  that  there  are  about  forty-three  variations  which 
may  be  called  differences  of  translation,  some  (twenty- 
two)  of  greater,  some  (twenty-one)  of  smaller  moment. 
Besides  these,  there  are  fourteen  variations  in  points  of 
Enghsh  expression,  and  six  in  the  order  of  words.  In 
all  there  are  about  sixty-three  variations,  an  average  of 
twenty-seven  in  every  hundred  words.  Of  the  forty-three 
variations  of  translation,  every  one  agrees  with  Luther  and 
the  Zurich  version  (which  in  this  passage  differ  only  in 
points  of  dialect),  though  in  one  instance  the  Vulgate  has 
distinctly  influenced  the  choice  of  words.  Of  the  fourteen 
variations  in  the  next  class,  three  are  merely  points  of 
English,  points  in  which  no  external  influence  can  have 
play :  in  the  eleven  which  remain,  Coverdale  agrees  with 
the  German.  In  five  out  of  the  six  variations  in  the  order 
of  words  the  same  coincidence  may  be  traced.  Hence, 
where  Coverdale  differs  from  Tyndale,  the  variation  is 
almost  invariably  in  agreement  with  the  German.    Wherever 


io8  The  English  Bible. 


£>■ 


in  these  ten  verses  the  two  versions  agree  in  a  point  of 
interpretation,  they  agree  with  Luther  also.  Where  Luther 
and  the  Vulgate  differ,  Coverdale  is  almost  always  on  the 
side  of  the  former.  So  far,  therefore,  as  this  passage  bears 
evidence,  we  are  led  to  Luther  and  the  Vulgate  as  two  of 
Coverdale's  interpreters.  To  these  we  must  add  Tyndale  ; 
for  though  the  difference  between  the  two  is  often  marked, 
there  are  coincidences  of  expression  which  cannot  have 
been  accidental,  and  which  can  only  be  explained  on 
the  supposition  that  Coverdale  had  Tyndale's  translation 
before  him.  In  these  verses,  then,  we  must  call  Cover- 
dale's  version  a  translation  from  the  German,  exe- 
cuted with  the  assistance  of  the  Vulgate  and  Tyndale's 
version. 

Let  us  now  take  a  chapter  of  the  New  Testament,  Luke 
XV.,  a  chapter  not  presenting  many  difficulties  to  the  trans- 
lator. It  is  evident,  to  begin  with,  that  Coverdale  made 
use  of  Tyndale's  version  here.  Both  use  the  word  "re- 
sorted"  in  verse  i,  "similitude"  in  verse  3  (though  the 
Vulgate  would  suggest  "  parable  "),  "  wilderness  "  in  verse 
4  (Latin,  i?i  deserto).  In  verse  13  we  find  in  both,  "took 
his  journey  into  a  far  country,  and  there  he  wasted  his 
goods  with  riotous  living,"  except  that  Coverdale  reads 
"  wasted  he,"  instead  of  "  he  wasted."  If  further  proof 
than  this  example  were  needed,  the  agreement  in  verse  25, 
"minstrelsy"  (where  we  now  read  "music"),  and  in  verse 
27,  "safe  and  sound,"  would  convince  the  most  incredulous 
that  the  translations  are  not  independent.  Still,  the  amount 
of  variation  is  great.  A  minute  examination  shows  that  in 
this  comparatively  easy  chapter  Coverdale  departs  from 
Tyndale's  Testament  of  1534  in  146  instances.  (If  we 
were  to  take  Tyndale's  first  edition  as  our  standard,  this 
number  would  be  increased  to  150.)  Many  of  the  varia- 
tions, no  doubt,  are  very  slight,  but  for  our  present  purpose 


Sources  of  Coverdale  s  Versio7i.  109 

it  is  necessary  to  include  all.  In  several  instances  the  varia- 
tion, as  in  the  former  passage,  is  purely  verbal, — upo?i  for 
on,  unto  for  to,  &c.  Here,  of  course,  no  foreign  influence 
can  be  traced.  Setting  these  instances  aside,  we  find  that 
in  almost  every  variation  Coverdale  agrees  with  Luther's 
version.  The  direct  influence  of  the  Vulgate  is  seen  in 
such  renderings  as  "doth  penance"  (verses  7,  10),  where 
Tyndale  has  "  repenteth." 

In  the  Pentateuch  and  in  the  New  Testament  the  Swiss 
translators  to  a  very  large  extent  followed  Luther,  merely 
adapting  his  work  to  the  dialect  of  their  country.  In  the 
Prophets  and  some  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the 
Zurich  Bible  differs  widely  from  Luther's ;  and  here  Cover- 
dale's  preference  for  the  Swiss  version  is  strongly  marked. 
One  example  has  been  given,  from  Isaiah  Ivii.  5.  Dr. 
Ginsburg,  in  his  Com7ne7itary  on  Ecdesiastes,  gives  a  number 
of  passages  in  which  Coverdale  has  literally  followed  the 
Zurich  Bible ;  and  remarks  that  in  this  book  of  Scripture 
the  instances  in  which  Coverdale  follows  the  Vulgate  and 
Luther  are  comparatively  few.  Professor  Westcott  goes 
carefully  into  this  subject  in  an  Appendix  to  his  History  of 
the  E?iglish  Bible  (second  edition).  He  examines  fifty-five 
passages  in  which  Coverdale  has  shown  some  doubt  as  to 
the  meaning,  and  has  therefore  given  one  interpretation  in 
the  text,  and  an  alternative  in  the  margin.  For  example  : 
in  Genesis  xxxiii.  19  we  find  in  the  text  "an  hundred 
pence ;"  in  the  margin,  "  some  read,  an  hundred  lambs." 
In  Psalms  xxxvii.  2 1  the  text  is,  "  The  ungodly  borroweth, 
and  payeth  not  again:"  the  marginal  note,  "Some  read 
thus.  The  ungodly  lendeth  upon  usury,  and  not  for  naught." 
Here  then,  reckoning  text  and  margin,  we  have  more  than 
one  hundred  renderings  to  trace.  Dr.  Westcott  discovers 
almost  all  in  one  or  more  of  the  following  five  versions — 
the  Vulgate,  Pagninus's  Latin  version,  Luther,  the  Zurich 


1 1  o  The  English  Bible. 

Bible,  and  Tyndale.  In  seven  instances  only  does  he  not 
identify  the  rendering.  A  more  recent  examination  of  early 
editions  of  the  two  German  versions  (in  the  library  of  the 
British  Museum)  has  brought  to  light  this  small  remainder, 
so  that  we  have  now  presumptive  evidence  that  the  sources 
of  Coverdale's  work  are  completely  before  us.  We  cannot, 
indeed,  say  with  certainty  whether  Tyndale's  translation  is 
included  among  the  "  five  "  of  which  Coverdale  speaks,  or 
whether  the  fifth,  like  the  other  four,  is  some  additional 
Latin  or  German  version.  Nothing  but  an  examination  of 
the  whole  fabric  of  his  version  can  set  this  question  alto- 
gether at  rest.  Whatever  light  further  research  may  throw 
on  points  of  detail,  it  is  not  likely  that  these  general  results 
can  be  in  any  way  shaken.  We  may  safely  conclude,  there- 
fore, that  the  words  upon  the  title-page  of  Coverdale's  Bible 
are  to  be  taken  in  their  simple  and  obvious  meaning,  not 
set  aside  as  a  "  bookselling  artifice  of  the  time ; "  and  that 
the  straightforward  confession  was  made,  not  because  it 
would  "  make  the  work  circulate  better,  as  being  intimately 
connected  with  the  reformed  doctrines,"  but  because  the 
truthful  modesty  of  the  translator  shrank  from  claiming 
credit  for  work  which  he  had  never  done,  and  which  really 
lay  beyond  his  powers. 

Coverdale's  relation  to  Tyndale  requires  a  little  further 
attention.  No  writer  on  the  subject  appears  to  have 
noticed  how  this  relation  varies  in  different  parts  of  the 
New  Testament.  Luke  xv.,  referred  to  before,  will  serve 
as  a  specimen  of  the  historical  books — the  Gospels  and  the 
Acts.  In  most  of  the  Epistles  Coverdale  makes  many 
changes.  Taking  sixty  verses  at  random  from  Romans, 
2  Corinthians,  2  Thessalonians,  Titus,  Philemon,  and 
Hebrews,  we  find  that  Coverdale  departs  from  Tyndale's 
Testament  of  1534  rather  more  than  twice  in  every  verse. 
In  the   subjoined   extract    from   Romans  iii.    (in   modern 


Variations  between  Coverdale  and  Tyndale.      1 1 1 

spelling),  the  words  which  differ  from  Tyndale  are  printed 
in  italics  : — 

*'  What  furtherance  then  have  the  Jews  ?  Or  what 
advantageth  circumcision  ?  Surely  very  much.  First : 
unto  them  was  committed  what  God  spake.  But  ivhereas 
some  of  them  did  not  believe  thereon,  what  then  ?  should 
their  unbelief  make  the  promise  of  God  of  none  effect  ? 
God  forbid.  Let  //  rather  be  thus,  that  God  is  true,  and 
all  men  liars.  As  it  is  written  :  That  thou  mayest  be 
justified  in  thy  sayings,  and  shouldest  overcome  when  thou 
art  judged.  But  if  //  be  so,  that  our  unrighteousness 
praiseth  the  righteousness  of  God,  what  shall  we  say  ?  Is 
God  then  unrighteous,  that  he  is  angry  therefore  2  (I  speak 
thus  after  the  manner  of  men)  God  forbid.  How  might 
God  then  judge  the  world?  For  if  the  truth  of  God  be 
through  my  lie  the  more  excellent  unto  his  praise,  why 
should  I  then  be  judged  yet  as  a  sinner  ?  and  not  rather  to 
do  thus  (as  we  are  evil  spoken  of,  and  as  some  report,  that  we 
should  say).  Let  us  do  evil,  that  good  may  come  thereof 
Whose  damnation  is  just." 

In  the  first  Epistle  of  St.  John,  Professor  Westcott 
reckons  about  one  alteration  for  every  verse.  In  the 
Epistles  of  St.  Peter  also  there  are  many  changes.  In  the 
Epistle  of  St.  James,  however,  containing  io8  verses,  the 
difference  between  Coverdale  and  Tyndale  amounts  to 
three  words  only  ;  and  even  here  the  change  merely  consists 
in  the  adoption  of  Tyndale's  earlier  instead  of  his  later 
rendering.  In  St.  Jude  the  agreement  is  complete.  In 
Revelation  i.  two  words  are  altered.  One  of  these  is  angel 
for  messenger  (verse  20) :  throughout  the  Epistles  to  the 
Seven  Churches  Coverdale  retains  this  word,  whereas 
Tyndale,  with  strange  inconsistency,  has  now  messenger, 
now  angel,  and  once  (chap.  iii.  7)  tidings-b ringer.  In  chap, 
ii.  there  are  besides  two   slight   verbal   changes,  and  one 


1 1 2  The  English  Bible. 

alteration  which  is  sufficiently  interesting  to  be  noticed 
more  particularly.  In  verse  3,  ''  and  hast  suffered  and  hast 
patience"  is  the  very  clear  rendering  of  Tyndale's  earlier 
Testament;  but  in  his  second  edition  we  are  startled  to 
find  the  words  "didst  wash  thyself"  in  the  place  of  "hast 
suffered."  Strange  as  the  words  appear  in  this  connexion, 
we  find  on  examination  that  they  are  a  faithful  translation 
of  Erasmus's  Greek  text,  which  in  the  Apocalypse  was  very 
incorrect.  Coverdale,  gaining  by  his  dependence  on  other 
translators  in  such  an  instance  as  this,  where  editions  of 
the  Greek  Testament  presented  an  incorrect  text,  naturally 
retained  the  earlier  words,  and  Tyndale's  later  rendering 
found  no  place  in  any  other  version. 

Although  Coverdale's  is  but  a  secondary  translation,  a 
version  derived  from  other  versions,  its  importance  in  the 
history  of  the  English  Bible  is  great.  We  cannot  too  care- 
fully bear  in  mind  that  in  three-fourths  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment this  was  the  first  printed  version  presented  to  the 
English  reader.  Throughout  this  large  portion  of  the 
Bible  Coverdale  for  the  present  stands  alone.  Some 
isolated  chapters  had  been  published  by  Tyndale,  the 
"  Epistles  from  the  Old  Testament,"  already  described  ;  but 
a  comparison  of  the  two  versions  of  Isaiah  xii.  will  show 
that  they  have  litde  in  common.  If  we  go  on  to  compare 
with  both  the  chapter  as  it  stands  in  our  present  Bibles,  we 
shall  find  that,  in  one  hundred  points  of  translation,  the 
Authorised  Version  agrees  with  Tyndale  against  Coverdale 
in  thirty-two,  with  Coverdale  against  Tyndale  in  twenty- 
seven,  with  both  in  nineteen,  with  neither  in  twenty-two. 
In  Luke  xv.  the  Authorised  Version  accords  with  these  two 
versions  where  they  agree  with  each  other,  except  in  about 
one  instance  in  every  verse.  In  ninety-four  instances  the 
Authorised  Version  agrees  with  Tyndale  against  Coverdale, 
in  thirty-two  with  Coverdale  against  Tyndale  :  in  nineteen 


Covei'dale  s  Bible,  1 1 3 

places  where  the  two  differ  the  Authorised  Version  agrees 
with  neither.  We  will  not  further  tax  the  patience  of  our 
readers  by  numerical  statements.  Such  analyses,  however, 
are  the  only  means  by  which  the  exact  relation  of  the 
versions  can  be  made  clear. 

Coverdale's  Bible  is  divided  into  six  parts.  The  first 
contains  the  Pentateuch  ;  the  second,  the  historical  books 
from  Joshua  to  Esther  (or,  as  it  is  here  written,  Hester\ 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah  being  denominated  i  and  2  Esdras  ; 
the  third,  Job,  the  Psalter,  the  "  Proverbs  of  Salomon," 
the  "Preacher  of  Salomon,"  and  "Salomon's  Balettes."  In 
the  fourth,  embracing  the  prophetical  books,  Baruch  (with 
the  Epistle  of  Jeremy)  finds  a  place  before  Ezekiel;  but  a 
note  at  the  end  states  that  the  book  "  is  not  in  the  canon 
of  the  Hebrew,"  and  a  later  notice  explains  that  Baruch 
belongs  to  the  Apocrypha,  but  is  "  set  among  the  prophets 
next  unto  Jeremy,  because  he  was  his  scribe,  and  in  his 
time."  The  Book  of  Lamentations  is  thus  introduced : 
"  And  it  came  to  passe  (after  Israel  was  brought  into  cap- 
tiuyte,  and  Jerusalem  destroyed)  that  Jeremy  the  Prophet 
sat  wepinge,  mournynge,  and  making  his  mone  in  Jeru- 
salem ;  so  that  with  an  heuy  herte  he  sighed  and  sobbed, 
sayenge."  The  fifth  part  contains  the  Apocryphal  Books, 
arranged  in  the  same  order  as  in  the  Authorised  Version  : 
the  Prayer  of  Manasses,  however,  is  omitted  altogether. 

The  short  preface  to  the  Apocrypha  is  so  characteristic, 
that  we  venture  to  give  it  in  full: — "These  bokes(good  reader) 
which  be  called  Apocrypha,  are  not  iudged  amonge  the 
doctours  to  be  of  like  reputacion  with  the  other  scripture,  as 
thou  mayest  perceaue  by  S.  Jerome  in  epistola  ad  Paulinum. 
And  the  chefe  cause  therof  is  this  :  there  be  many  places  in 
them  that  seme  to  be  repugnaunt  vnto  the  open  and  many- 
fest  trueth  in  the  other  bokes  of  the  byble.  Neuertheles 
I  haue  not  gathered  them  together  to  the  intent  that  I  vvolde 


114  The  English  Bible. 

haue  them  despysed,  or  little  sett  by,  or  that  I  shulde  thinke 
them  false,  for  I  am  not  able  to  proue  it :  Yee  I  doute 
not  verely,  yf  they  were  equally  conferred  with  the  other 
open  scripture  (tyme,  place,  and  circamstaunce  in  all  thinges 
considered)  they  shulde  nether  seme  contrary,  ner  be  vntruly 
and  peruersly  aledged.  Treuth  it  is  :  a  mans  face  can  not 
be  sene  so  wel  in  a  water  as  in  a  fayre  glasse  :  nether  can  it 
be  shewed  so  clearly  in  a  water  that  is  stered  or  moued,  as 
in  a  styll  water.  These  and  many  other  darck  places  of 
scripture  haue  bene  so  stered  and  myxte  with  blynde  and 
cuvetous  opynions  of  men,  which  haue  cast  soch  a  myst 
afore  the  eyes  of  the  symple,  that  as  longe  as  they  be 
not  conferred  with  the  other  places  of  scripture,  they  shall 
not  seme  other  wyse  to  be  vnderstonde,  then  as  cuvetousnes 
expoundeth  them.  But  who  so  euer  thou  be  that  readest 
scriptures,  let  the  holy  goost  be  thy  teacher,  and  let  one  text 
expounde  another  vnto  the :  As  for  soch  dreames,  visions 
and  darck  sentences  as  be  hyd  from  thy  vnderstondinge, 
commytte  them  vnto  God,  and  make  no  articles  of  them : 
But  let  the  playne  text  be  thy  gyde,  and  the  sprete  of  God 
(which  is  the  author  therof)  shal  lede  the  in  all  treuth.  As 
for  the  prayer  of  Salomon  (which  thou  tindest  not  herin), 
the  prayer  of  Azarias,  and  the  swete  song  that  he  and 
his  two  felowes  songe  in  the  fyre :  the  first  (namely  the 
prayer  of  Salomon)  readest  thou  in  the  eight  chapter  of  the 
thirde  boke  of  the  kynges,  so  that  it  appeareth  not  to 
be  Apocryphum :  The  other  prayer  and  songe  (namely 
of  the  thre  children)  haue  I  not  founde  ampnge  eny  of 
the  interpreters,  but  onely  in  the  olde  latyn  texte,  which 
reporteth  it  to  be  of  Theodotios  translacion.  Neuertheles, 
both  because  of  those  that  be  weake  and  scrupulous,  and 
for  their  sakes  also  that  loue  soch  swete  songes  of  thankes- 
geuinge  :  I  haue  not  left  them  out :  to  the  intent  that  the 
one  shulde  haue  no  cause  to  complayne,  and  that  the  other 


Coverdales  Bible.  115 

also  might  haue  the  more  occasion  to  geue  thankes  vnto 
God  in  aduersite,  as  the  thre  children  dyd  in  the  fyre. 
Grace  be  with  the.     Amen." 

The  sixth  part  of  Coverdale's  Bible  consists  of  the  New- 
Testament.  In  the  table  of  contents  the  books  are  arranged 
in  the  same  order  as  in  Luther's  and  Tyndale's  Testaments, 
but  are  placed  in  three  groups  : — (i)  The  Gospels  and  Acts ; 
(2)  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul ;  (3)  the  Epistles  of  St.  Peter  and 
St.  John,  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Epistles  of  St. 
James  and  St.  Jude,  and  the  Revelation.  No  part  has  any 
preface,  with  the  exception  of  the  fifth,  containing  the 
Apocrypha ;  but  at  the  commencement  of  the  volume  there 
is  a  dedication  to  King  Henry,  which  is  followed  by  a  pro- 
logue to  the  Christian  reader.  Each  book  (except  the  Psalms, 
Solomon's  Song,  Lamentations,  and  two  or  three  short  pieces 
in  the  Apocrypha)  is  preceded  by  a  table  setting  forth  the 
contents  of  the  several  chapters ;  hence  in  the  body  of  the 
work  there  are  no  headings  of  chapters.  There  is,  as  a 
rule,  no  division  into  short  verses,  but  every  chapter  is 
subdivided  into  sections  (indicated  by  letters  A,  B,  &c.), 
each  section  answering  to  perhaps  five  or  six  of  our  verses. 
These  sections,  however,  are  frequently  broken  up  into 
smaller  paragraphs.  Four  chapters  of  Lamentations  are 
divided  as  in  our  Bibles,  the  Hebrew  letters  which  com- 
mence the  several  verses  being  placed  in  the  margin.  A 
few  references  to  similar  or  parallel  passages  are  supplied, 
together  with  the  marginal  notes  to  which  we  have  already 
referred.  Besides  those  notes  which  contain  alternative 
renderings,  we  find  a  few  of  an  explanatory  kind.  Thus  in 
Numbers  xxxiii.  the  high  places  are  stated  to  be  "hill- 
chapels,  or  al tares  build ed  vpon  hilles."  In  Job  ix.  9,  on 
"the  seven  stars,"  we  read,  "some  call  the  seuen  starres 
the  clock  henne  with  hir  chekens."  At  the  end  of  the 
Psalter  is  given  a  note  on  Selah  :  **  In  the  psalter  this  worde 
I  2 


Ii6  The  English  Bible. 

Sela  commeth  very  oft,  and  (after  the  mynde  of  the  inter- 
preters) it  is  asmoch  to  saye  as,  allwaye,  contynually,  for 
ever,  forsoyth,  verely,  a  liftinge  vp  of  the  voyce,  or  to  make 
a  pause,  and  earnestly  to  consider,  and  to  ponder  the 
sentence/'  In  Acts  xxvii.  "  syrtes "  (in  the  Authorised 
Version  ''  quicksands  ")  are  explained  as  "  perlous  places  in 
the  see;"  and  in  Titus  i.  12,  Epimenides  is  given  as  the 
name  of  the  "  own  prophet."  There  are  in  all  twenty-three 
of  these  explanatory  notes. 

The  most  interesting  portion  of  Coverdale's  Old  Testa- 
ment is  the  Psalter.     It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that  this 
portion  is  still  familiar  to  all  who  read  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer,  for  the  Prayer-Book  Psalter  is  in  essence  the  Psalter 
of  Coverdale's  Bible.     Out  of  the  seventeen  verses  in  the 
Prayer-Book  version  of  Psalm  xc,  a  very  difficult  Psalm, 
twelve  stand  now  exactly  as  they  stood  in  1535  ;  in  the  six 
Psalms,  xc. — xcv.,  the  amount  of  difference  between  Cover- 
dale's  Bible  and  the  Prayer-Book  is  little  more  than  two 
words  in  each  verse.     The  numbering  of  the  Latin  version 
is  retained,  so  that  Psalm  ix.  is  joined  with  x..  Psalm  cxiv. 
with  cxv. ;  cxvi.,  and  also  cxlvii,,  are  divided  into  two.     In 
each  case  a  note  of  explanation  is  supplied.     The  titles  of 
the  Psalms  are  abridged,  everything  except  the  indication  of 
authorship  being,  as  a  rule,  omitted :  no  notices  such  as 
Song  of  Degrees,  Maschil,  or  Michtam,  are  to  be  found. 
Most  of  those  who  are  accustomed  to  the  liturgy  of  the 
Church  of  England  are  strongly  attached  to  the  Psalter  as 
given  in  the  Prayer-Book.     The  greater  freedom  of  transla- 
tion, the  introduction  of  words  which  may  make  the  sense 
clearer,  the  tender  rhythm,  for  the  sake  of  which  expansion 
and  paraphrase  are  not  unfrequently  adopted,  are  characteris- 
tics which  with  many  go  far  to  atone  for  the  inferiority  of  the 
version  in  point  of  exactness.     It  must  not  be  supposed, 
however,  that  Coverdale's  Psalter  is  of  interest  for  those 


The  Psalter.  wj 

only  who  are  familiar  with  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
A  multitude  of  passages,  remarkable  for  beauty  and  tender- 
ness, and  often  for  strength  and  vigour,  are  common  to  both 
our  versions  of  the  Psalms,  and  are  due  to  Coverdale. 
"  My  flesh  and  my  heart  faileth,  but  God  is  the  strength  of 
my  heart,  and  my  portion  for  ever."  "  Enter  not  into  judg- 
ment with  thy  servant,  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man  living 
be  justified."  "  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence,  and 
take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me."  "  For  thy  lovingkind- 
ness  is  better  than  life  ;  my  Hps  shall  praise  thee."  ^'Thou 
Lord  in  the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth, 
and  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thy  hands.  They  shall 
perish,  but  thou  shalt  endure  :  they  all  shall  wax  old,  as 
doth  a  garment ;  and  as  a  vesture  shalt  thou  change  them, 
and  they  shall  be  changed.  But  thou  art  the  same,  and  thy 
years  shall  not  fail."  It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  these 
quotations,  some  identical  in  their  language  with  the  Autho- 
rised Version,  some  agreeing  with  it  in  almost  every  point 
of  importance  ;  but  enough  has  been  given  to  show  to  how 
great  an  extent  the  noble  language  of  our  Psalter  is  derived 
from  the  Bible  of  1535. 

In  the  other  poetical  books,  in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the 
Apocrypha,  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  Coverdale's  work 
survives  in  our  present  Bibles.  Every  page  of  the  older 
version  contains  many  phrases  and  turns  of  expression  which 
are  familiar  to  us  all,  but  comparatively  few  passages  of  any 
length  have  remained  untouched  by  successive  revisers  and 
translators.  It  is  not  difficult  to  find  passages  in  which  the 
change  is  but  slight.  "  Incline  your  ears,  and  come  unto 
me,  take  heed  and  your  soul  shall  live.  For  I  will  make  an 
everlasting  covenant  with  you,  even  the  sure  mercies  ot 
David."  "Seek  the  Lord  while  he  maybe  found;  call  upon 
him  while  he  is  nigh."  "  But  who  may  abide  the  day  of  his 
coming?"     "  She  \i.e.^  Wisdom]  is  the  breath  of  the  power 


11 8  The  English  Bible. 

of  God,  and  a  pure  clean  expressing  of  the  clearness  of 
Almighty  God.  Therefore  can  no  defiled  ^  thing  come  into 
her,  for  she  is  the  brightness  of  the  everlasting  light,  the 
undefiled  mirror  of  the  majesty  of  God,  and  the  image  of 
his  goodness.  And  for  so  much  as  she  is  one  she  may  do 
all  things,  and  being  stedfast  herself  she  reneweth  all,  and 
among  the  people  conveyeth  she  herself  into  the  holy  souls." 

It  would  be  easy  to  accumulate  examples  on  the  other 
side,  and  point  out  the  faults  of  the  version.  These  faults 
are  in  the  main  those  of  the  authorities  whom  Coverdale 
followed  :  as  a  translation  from  German  (and  Latin)  sources, 
the  work  is  deserving  of  high  praise  for  faithfulness  and 
beauty. 

To  one  peculiarity  the  translator  himself  has  called 
attention.  The  reader  will  remember  his  defence  of  the 
principle  of  varying  the  English  rendering  of  the  same 
word.  He  has  certainly  illustrated  this  principle  in  his 
work,  but  perhaps  not  so  frequently  as  we  might  have 
expected.  In  the  words  which  express  the  idea  of  repe?it- 
ance  he  is  far  from  regular ;  J>ena?ice  and  amendment  fre- 
quently occur,  but  repentance  four  times  as  often  as  either. 
He  refers  to  scribe  and  lawyer,  but  here  his  practice  is 
remarkably  consistent ;  in  every  New  Testament  passage  he 
adheres  to  scribe.  It  is  not  a  little  surprising  to  find  the 
Greek  ecclesia  uniformly  rendered  congregation  (never  church) 
throughout  Coverdale's  New  Testament. 

The  English  of  this  version  does  not  often  present  much 
difficulty  to  the  modern  reader.  A  long  chapter  will  often 
contain  no  word  or  phrase  which  is  not  still  understood. 
The  enumeration  of  ornaments  given  in  Isa.  iii.  is  as  intel- 
ligible as  that  found  in  our  Authorised  Version.  We  meet 
with  many  words  which  are  no  longer  current  in  literary 
English,  but  are  familiar  in  various  dialects ;  others  are  more 
^  In  the  text  "vndefyled," — clearly  an  error  of  the  press. 


Peailiar   Words  employed.  1 1 9 

antiquated.  The  following  will  serve  as  specimens  of  each 
class  : — to  spar  a  door,  to  clip  sheep,  a  mauiid  of  figs,  chaft- 
bone  (jawbone),  lever  (rather),  symnel  (a  cake),  doorcheek 
(door-post),  body  (as  in  "an  indiscreet  body "),  j^^///  (yell), 
perqueUies^  creshef,  venison  (in  the  sense  of  a  hunted  animal), 
hoo  (an  exclamation,  "  stop  ! "),  smoor  (smother),  chevesance 
(agreement,  gain),  a  cankered  carle^  back  (bat),  rigbone  (back- 
bone), rowles  (waves),  mastress  (mistress),  ttmicle,  iimermer 
(inner),  bug  (object  of  fear,  bugbear),  wood  (mad).  Some 
words  now  in  common  use,  but  not  found  in  our  present 
Bibles,  meet  us  here  :  as  conjuror^  troiuel,  sturdy,  surgeon. 
A  collection  is  a  hand-reaching ;  augury  is  birds  crying  or 
fowls  crying.  One  peculiarity  in  the  spelling  is  very  marked  : 
the  eye  requires  a  special  education  to  recognise  and  inter- 
pret such  words  as  szkynne,  buszshed,  wyszdoJ?ie,  which  are 
found  on  every  page.  The  proper  names  are  usually  given 
in  their  Latin  form, — Eliseus,  Ezechias^  Manasses,  Amastas, 
Mardocheus.  Tessalo7iians  seems  to  be  the  form  used 
throughout,  both  in  the  Epistle  itself  and  in  references, 
though  the  city  is  called  Thessalonica.  These  minor  pecu- 
liarities connect  themselves  with  the  place  of  publication 
and  the  authorities  chiefly  followed  in  the  work. 

Several  copies  of  the  first  edition  of  Coverdale's  Bible 
are  known  to  exist.  Two  are  amongst  the  treasures  of  the 
British  Museum.  The  variations  in  the  title-page  of  the 
book  have  been  already  adverted  to.  Five  title-pages  in  all 
have  been  preserved, — some  printed  in  England,  some 
abroad ;  the  latter  alone  contain  the  reference  to  "  Dutch 
and  Latin  "  sources.  Two  of  the  title-pages  bear  the  date 
1536,  but  the  imprint  states  explicitly  that  the  printing  was 
finished  in  October  of  the  previous  year.^     Of  the  later 

1  For  further  information  on  this  subject  see  Fry  On  Coverdale's 
Bible  of  1535  ;  see  also  Westcott's  History  of  the  English  Bible^  pp. 
57,  58. 


I20  The  English  Bible. 

editions  of  Coverdale's  Bible  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak,  as 
they  are  said  to  vary  but  little  from  the  original  work.  In 
1838  the  first  edition  was  reprinted  by  Bagster.  The  reprint 
is  in  ordinary  type,  and  the  lines  and  pages  do  not  corre- 
spond to  those  of  the  original  work ;  in  all  important 
matters,  however,  it  appears  to  be  a  thoroughly  faithful 
and  trustworthy  reproduction. 

The  Latin-English  Testaments  of  1538  cannot  receive 
more  than  a  hasty  notice,  as  they  hardly  fall  within  the  plan 
of  this  brief  history.  We  have  seen  that  Coverdale  was  in 
Paris  in  this  year,  engaged  in  Biblical  work.  During  his 
absence  from  England  appeared  a  New  Testament  bearing 
his  name,  and  dedicated  by  him  to  Henry  VIII.  "  The 
newe  testament  both  latin e  and  Englyshe  ech  correspondent 
to  the  other  after  the  vulgare  text,  commonly  called  S. 
Jeroms.  Faythfully  translated  by  j\Iyles  Couerdale,  Anno 
Mcccccxxxviii.  Printed  in  Southwarke  by  James  Nicolson. 
Set  forth  wyth  the  kynges  moost  gracious  licence."  Later 
in  the  same  year  Coverdale  printed  a  second  edition  of  this 
work  in  Paris.  The  cause  of  this  proceeding  is  thus  ex- 
plained by  himself  in  the  Dedication  (to  Lord  Cromwell) 
prefixed  to  the  new  edition.  "  This  last  Lent  I  did  with  all 
humbleness  direct  an  epistle  unto  the  king's  most  noble 
grace;  trusting  that  the  book  whereunto  it  was  prefixed 
should  afterward  have  been  as  well  correct  as  other  books 
be.  And  because  I  could  not  be  present  myself,  by  the 
reason  of  sundry  notable  impediments  ;  therefore  inasmuch 
as  the  New  Testament  which  I  had  set  forth  in  English 
before  doth  so  agree  with  the  Latin,  I  was  heartily  well 
content  that  the  Latin  and  it  should  be  set  together  ; 
provided  alway  that  the  corrector  should  follow  the  true 
copy  of  the  Latin  in  any  wise,  and  to  keep  the  true  and 
right  English  of  the  same.  And  so  doing  I  was  content 
to  set  my  name  to  it.    And  even  so  I  did,  trusting  that, 


The  Latin-English   Testaments.  12 1 

though  I  were  absent  and  out  of  the  land,  yet  all  should  be 
well ;  and  as  God  is  my  record,  I  knew  none  other  till  this 
last  July,  that  it  was  my  chance  here  in  these  parts  at  a 
stranger's  hand  to  come  by  a  copy  of  the  said  print :  which 
when  I  had  perused  I  found  that  as  it  was  disagreeable  to 
my  former  translation  in  English,  so  was  not  the  true  copy 
of  the   Latin  text  observed,  neither  the  English  so  corre- 
spondent to  the  same  as  it  ought  to  be;  but  in  many  places 
both  base,  insensible,  and  clean  contrary,  not  only  to  the 
phrase  of  our  language,  but  also  from  the  understanding  of 
the  text  in  Latin.     .     .     .     And  therefore  as  my  duty  is  to 
be  faithful,  to  edify,  and  with  the  utmost  of  my  power  to  put 
away  all  occasion  of  evil,  so  have  I,  though  my  business  be 
great  enough  beside,  endeavoured  myself  to  weed  out  the 
faults  that  were  in  the  Latin  and  English  before."     Strange 
to  say,  a  third  edition  was  issued  (by  Nycolson)  before  the 
close  of  the  year;    this   edition   bears  the  name   of  John 
Hollybushe,    who    may    also    have     been    the     editor    of 
the  first   edition.     The   second   (printed   by   Regnault)   is 
obviously  the  only  edition  which  we  can  closely  associate 
with  Coverdale.     The  text  of  this  Testament  has  not  been 
collated  as  a  whole  ^vith  that  of  Coverdale's  Bible ;    but, 
if  we  may  judge  from  a  comparison  of  selected  passages,  the 
amount  of  difference  is  not  large.   In  i  John  i.,  for  example, 
the  alterations  do  not  exceed  four  words  in  a  hundred ;  the 
changes    are   usually    in    the    direction   of  the    Latin,   but 
the  sense  is  rarely  affected.     The  first  and  third   editions 
vary  somewhat  more   freely    from    Coverdale's    Bible.     It 
is  not    probable,  however,   that    any  of  these  Testaments 
exerted   any  appreciable   influence  on   the    later    English 
versions. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

*'  Matthew's  bible." — john  Rogers  :  richard 
tavern  er. 

About  two  years  after  the  publication  of  Coverdale's  trans- 
lation appeared  another  folio  volume  containing  the  Bible 
in  English.  The  inscription  on  the  title-page  runs  thus  : 
"  The  Byble,  which  is  all  the  holy  Scripture  :  In  which  are 
contayned  the  Olde  and  Newe  Testament  truly  and  purely 
translated  into  Englysh  by  Thomas  Matthew.  Esaye  I. 
Hearcken  to  ye  heauens  and  thou  earth  geaue  eare :  for  the 
Lorde  speaketh.  M,D,xxxvii,  Set  forth  with  the  Kinges 
most  gracyous  lycence."  In  no  part  of  the  volume  is  any 
information  given  as  to  the  place  of  publication,  and  all 
that  we  can  say  is  that  the  book  was  printed  abroad.^  The 
Dedication  to  Henry  VIII.  bears  the  signature  of  Thomas 
Matthew,  but  contains  nothing  which  throws  any  light  on 
the  translator  or  on  the  circumstances  of  the  translation. 
A  brief  "  Exhortacyon  to  the  studye  of  the  holy  Scrypture  " 
is  signed  with  the  initials  I.  R.  The  only  remaining 
indications  which  can  point  to  any  persons  connected 
with  the  work  are  the  initials  R.  G.  and  E.  W.,  found 
on  the  reverse  of  the  title-page  of  the  second  part  of  the 
volume  (containing  "  The  Prophetes  in  Englysh "),  and 
the  letters  W.  T.,  which  occur  at  the  end  of  the  Book  of 
Malachi. 

It  is  evident  at  a  glance  that  this  book  is  no  reprint  of 

^  At  Antwerp,    possibly.     See  the  Caxton   Celebration    Catalogue, 
p.  90. 


TJie  First  Authorised  Version.  123 

Coverdale's  translation.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  measure 
of  favour  shown  to  Coverdale's  Bible,  the  new  volume  made 
its  way  into  England  with  surprising  ease  and  success.  The 
first  notice  of  it  that  we  find  is  in  a  letter  from  Cranmer  to 
Cromwell,  dated  August  4,  1537.  The  Archbishop  begs 
Cromwell  to  read  the  book,  a  copy  of  which  he  sends  with 
his  letter,  assuring  him  that,  so  far  as  he  has  examined  the 
translation,  it  is  more  to  his  liking  than  any  translation  here- 
tofore made.  He  prays  Cromwell  to  exhibit  the  book  to 
the  king,  and  to  obtain  from  him  a  ''  license  that  the  same 
may  be  sold  and  read  of  every  person,  without  danger  of 
any  act,  proclamation,  or  ordinance  heretofore  granted  to 
the  contrary,  until  such  time  that  we  the  Bishops  shall 
set  forth  a  better  translation,  which  I  think  will  not  be 
till  a  day  after  doomsday."  A  iQ\N  days  later  Cranmer 
again  writes,  expressing  his  most  hearty  thanks  to  Cromwell 
for  having  obtained  from  the  king  that  the  book  "  shall  be 
allowed  by  his  authority  to  be  bought  and  read  within  this 
realm."  This  translation  may  therefore  be  called  the  first 
Authorised  Version  of  the  English  Bible.^  The  initials  men- 
tioned above,  R.  G.  and  E.  W.,  are  those  of  the  London 
printers,  Richard  Grafton  and  Edward  Whitchurch,  at  whose 
expense  the  volume  was  printed.  From  a  letter  written  by 
Grafton  to  Cranmer,  in  which  he  seeks  protection  against 
unauthorised  reprints,  we  learn  that  the  impression  had  con- 
sisted of  1,500  copies,  and  that  Graftan  had  ventured  in  the 
undertaking  the  sum  of  ;£5oo — a  large  venture  at  that  time. 
The  whole  impression  appears  to  have  been  sold  within 
a  short  period.  The  royal  license  had  removed  all  obstacles 
which  could  embarrass  the  sale  or  the  reading  of  the  book, 
and  the  English  nation  joyfully  welcomed  the  gift  of  the 
Scriptures  translated  into  their  mother  tongue. 

^  In  the  same  year,  1537,  the  royal  license  was  obtained  for  Cover- 
dale's  Bible.     See  above,  p.  99, 


124  The  English  Bible. 

But  it  is  time  to  ask,  Who  was  Thomas  Matthew  ?  What 
is  the  meaning  of  the  initials  I.  R.  and  W.  T.,  which,  as 
we  have  seen,  are  found  in  this  book  ?  The  second  of  these 
questions  may  be  easily  answered.  Foxe's  testimony,  though 
of  doubtful  accuracy  in  some  details,  is  of  itself  sufficient 
to  show  that  under  "  I.  R."  we  must  understand  John 
Rogers,  the  first  who  suffered  for  his  religion  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Mary. 

John  Rogers  was  born  about  the  year  1500.  Soon  after 
taking  the  degree  of  B.A.  at  Cambridge,  in  1525,  he  received 
an  invitation  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  then  known  as 
"Cardinal  College."  About  the  year  1534  he  accepted  the 
office  of  Chaplain  to  the  Merchant  Adventurers  at  Antwerp, 
in  which  city  Tyndale  was  then  residing.  Foxe  relates  that 
in  Antwerp  Rogers  chanced  "  to  fall  in  company  with  that 
worthy  martyr  of  God,  William  Tyndale,  and  with  Miles 
Coverdale,  which  both  for  the  hatred  they  bare  to  Popish 
superstition  and  idolatry,  and  love  they  bare  toward  true 
religion,  had  forsaken  their  native  country.  In  conferring 
with  them  the  Scriptures,  he  came  to  great  knowledge  in 
the  Gospel  of  God,  insomuch  that  he  cast  off  the  heavy  yoke 
of  Popery,  perceiving  it  to  be  impure  and  filthy  idolatry, 
and  joined  himself  with  them  two  in  that  painful"  {i.e.  dif- 
ficult) "  and  most  profitable  labour  of  translating  the  Bible 
into  the  English  tongue,  which  is  entitled,  '  The  Translation 
of  Thomas  Matthew.'"^  Rogers's  association  with  Tyndale 
seems  to  have  been  very  intimate,  though  of  but  short  dura- 
tion. His  Bible  was  published  a  few  months  after  Tyndale's 
death.  In  1537  he  married,  and  removed  to  Wittenberg, 
where,  probably,  he  remained  until  1547.  During  the  short 
reign  of  Edward  VI.  he  received  many  marks  of  favour  from 
the  party  then  in  power.  His  elevated  position  and  his 
courageous  advocacy  of  Protestant  opinions  marked  him  out 
^  Acts  and  Mo77-zwients,  vol.  vi.,  p.  591. 


Rogers s  Biblical  Labours.  125 

as  an  early  victim  in  the  persecution  which  followed ;  and 
in  February,  1555,  he  was  burned  alive  in  Smithfield. 

The  nature  of  Rogers's  BibHcal  labours  will  appear  when 
we  examine  the  internal  character  of  Matthew's  Bible. 
Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  "W.  T."  can  hardly 
have  any  other  meaning  than  ''WilHam  Tyndale."  It  is 
much  more  difficult  to  deal  with  the  remaining  question, 
relating  to  Thomas  Matthew.  Foxe  intimates  that  this  was 
merely  a  name  which  Rogers  assumed  from  prudential 
motives,  lest  his  known  connexion  with  Tyndale  should 
prove  injurious  to  the  undertaking.  In  favour  of  this  view, 
which  is  accepted  by  most  modern  writers,  is  the  fact  that 
in  the  official  record  of  the  apprehension  of  Rogers  he  is 
described  as  "  John  Rogers,  alias  Matthew."  It  is  possible, 
however,  that  the  name  is  a  real  one,  and  belongs  to  some 
patron  through  whose  aid  the  work  was  undertaken.  Neither 
view  is  free  from  difficulty.  If  Matthew  and  Rogers  were 
different  men,  it  is  singular  that  all  knowledge  of  Matthew 
should  so  soon  have  been  lost,  and  that  in  less  than  twenty 
years  the  name  should  have  been  supposed  to  be  a  mere 
alias.  If  but  one  person  is  signified,  it  is  somewhat  strange 
that  both  names  should  occur  in  the  documents  prefixed  to 
the  Bible.  On  any  supposition  the  statement  on  the  title- 
page  is  inaccurate. 

Let  us  now  examine  the  translation  itself.  The  New 
Testament  need  not  detain  us  long,  for  with  very  slight  and 
occasional  exceptions  it  is  a  reproduction  of  Tyndale's 
version.  Where  Tyndale's  second  and  third  editions  differ, 
Matthew  seems  usually  to  agree  with  the  third,  that  of  1535. 
In  the  Old  Testament  the  case  is  not  so  clear.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  in  1537  there  existed  in  print  the  following 
versions  of  the  Old  Testament,  or  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment:  Tyndale's  Pentateuch  (1531,  1534))  Jonah  (1531), 
and  ''Epistles"  from  the  Old  Testament  and  Apocrypha 


126  The  English  Bible. 

(1534),  and  Coverdale's  Old  Testament  and  Apocrypha.  If 
we  compare  the  translation  before  us  with  each  of  these,  we 
meet  with  the  following  results  : — 

(i)  The  translation  of  the  Pentateuch  is  certainly  Tyn- 
dale's.  The  changes  introduced  are  very  slight,  hardly 
greater  perhaps  than  the  variations  between  the  two  editions 
published  by  Tyndale  himself  For  example  :  in  the  list  of 
clean  beasts  (Deut  xiv.  4,  5),  the  last  five  are  given  by 
Tyndale  as  the  bugle,  hart-goat,  unicorn,  "  origen,  and 
camelion;"  in  Matthew's  Bible  wild  goat  i^k^s  the  place  of 
hart-goaf  J  but  no  other  change  is  made.  In  Lev.  xi,  22 
Rogers  and  Tyndale  agree  (with  Luther)  in  leaving  untrans- 
lated the  four  words  which  in  the  Authorised  Version  are 
represented  by  locust,  bald-locust,  beetle,  grasshopper. 
Tyndale,  however,  gives  no  explanation  of  the  words; 
whereas  in  Matthew's  Bible  it  is  stated  that  "  Arbe,  Selaam, 
Hargol,  Hagab,  are  kyndes  of  beastes  that  crepe  or  scraul  on 
the  grounde,  which  the  Hebrues  themselues  do  not  now  a 
dayes  know."  In  the  passage  which  we  have  referred  to  so 
frequently.  Numb.  xxiv.  15 — 24,  the  two  versions  differ  only 
in  spelling. 

(2)  An  example  of  Tyndale's  "Epistles"  from  the  Old 
Testament  has  been  already  given  (see  p.  80),  and  has  also 
been  compared  with  Coverdale's  version  (see  p.  104).  It  is 
therefore  only  necessary  to  say  that  Matthew's  Bible  and 
Coverdale's  are  here  perfectly  in  accord. 

(3)  In  the  books  from  Ezra  to  Malachi,  not  excluding 
the  Book  of  Jonah,  and  in  the  Apocryphal  books  (with  one 
exception,  which  will  be  referred  to  afterwards),  Matthew's 
Bible  is  almost  identical  with  Coverdale's.  In  100  verses 
taken  at  random  from  variou-^  books  within  these  limits,  the 
difference  in  text  between  the  two  versions  does  not  amount 
to  eight  words  in  a  thousand.  In  Psalms  xc. — xcv.  (87 
verses)  the  only  variations  in  translation  are  an  insertion  of 


Translator  of  the  Nine  Books.  127 

the,  and  the  substitution  of  thine  for  thy  (three  times),  dis- 
dainfully for  disdaimdly,  and  we  for  as  for  us  we  (xcv.  7), 
said  for  sware  (xcv.  11).  With  the  exception  of  the  last, 
for  which  it  is  hard  to  account  except  on  the  supposition  of 
accident,  all  these  alterations  maintained  their  ground,  and 
are  still  to  be  found  in  the  Prayer-Book  Psalter. 

(4)  We  have  now  examined  all  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  except  nine — Joshua  to  2  Chronicles.  Here  we 
should  naturally  expect  that  Matthew's  Bible  would  give 
Coverdale's  translation,  as  the  only  English  translation  then 
extant.  The  most  cursory  examination  will  show  that  this 
is  7iot  the  case.  This  part  of  Matthew's  Bible  therefore  is 
new.  Who  then  is  the  translator?  The  statements  of  our 
authorities  are  conflicting.  Foxe^  ascribes  nearly  the  whole 
of  Matthew's  Bible  to  Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  Rogers  being 
the  translator  of  some  Apocryphal  books  and  the  "  corrector 
to  the  print."  Bishop  Bale'  (writing  about  1548)  speaks  of 
Rogers  as  translating  the  whole  Bible,  making  use  of  Tyn- 
dale's  version.  Another  writer,  quoted  by  Lewis/  tells  us 
that  to  the  end  of  the  Books  of  Chronicles  the  translation  is 
Tyndale's ;  and  from  thence  to  the  end  of  the  Apocrypha, 
Coverdale's ;  and  that  the  whole  New  Testament  is  Tyndale's. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  last  of  these  statements  is 
almost  literally  true,  and  that  Tyndale  left  behind  him  in 
manuscript  a  version  of  the  books  from  Joshua  to  Chronicles, 
which  was  first  given  to  the  world  by  Rogers  in  Matthew's 
Bible.  We  know  that  Tyndale  continued  to  labour  on  the 
Old  Testament  for  months,  if  not  for  years,  after  the  com- 
pletion of  his  Pentateuch ;  and  we  can  point  to  no  one 
more  likely  than  Rogers  to  be  intrusted  with  the  results  of 
his  labours.     It  is  also  clear  that,  if  these  books  had  been 

1  VoL  v.,  p.  412. 

2  See  Strype,  Cranmer,  vol.  i.,  p.  119. 
^  History  of  Translations y  p.  107. 


128  The  English  Bible. 

translated  by  Tyndale,  the  general  principle  on  which 
Rogers  acted  would  lead  him  to  adopt  this  version  in  pre- 
ference to  Coverdale's.  If  we  examine  the  translation  itself, 
it  lends  evidence  on  the  same  side.  One  or  two  illustrations 
only  can  be  given  here. 

We  have  to  show  that  the  translation  of  the  Books  from 
Joshua  to  Chronicles  is  probably  from  the  same  hand  as  the 
translation  of  the  Pentateuch,  and  7iot  from  the  same  hand 
as  the  translation  of  the  later  books  (from  Ezra  onwards). 
There  is  a  Hebrew  word  (e/o;z),  occurring  nine  times  in  the 
Old  Testament,  which  is  rendered  "  plain  "  in  our  common 
Bibles,  but  which  in  Tyndale's  Pentateuch  is  more  correctly 
translated  "oak"  or  "oak-grove"  (in  Deut.  xi.  30,  "grove"). 
We  turn  to  the  later  passages  in  which  the  word  occurs,  viz., 
Judg.  iv.  II,  ix.  6,  37,  I  Sam.  x.  3,  and  find  that  in  each  of 
these  passages  Matthew's  Bible  has  "  oak."      The  curious 
expression  rendered  in  our  Bibles  "  shut  up  and  left "  occurs 
five  times  (with  slight  variations),  viz.,  once  in  Deuteronomy 
and  four  times  in  the  Books  of  Kings.     In  Matthew's  Bible 
the  uniform  rendering  is  "  prisoned  (or  in  prisoii)  and  for- 
saken."     It  is  not  necessary  to  inquire  into  the  correctness 
of  this  rendering ;   whether  correct  or  not,  the  same  trans- 
lation of  this  peculiar  phrase  was  adopted  by  Tyndale  in  his 
Pentateuch,  and  by  the  translator  of  the  Books  of  Kings. 
Amongst  the  musical  instruments  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
Old  Testament  is  the  tambour  or  hand-drum,  in  Hebrew 
ioph.     Now  this  word  occurs  three  times  in  the  Pentateuch, 
five  times  between  Joshua  and  2  Chronicles,  and  nine  times 
in  later  books — that  is,  three  times  in  the  part  which  was 
certainly  Tyndale's,  nine  times  in  Coverdale's  portion,  and 
five  times  in  the  books  which  lie  between.     In  the  Pen- 
tateuch the  translation  is  always  tijiibrel.    In  the  books  from 
Ezra  onwards  (setting  aside  three  passages  in  which  entirely 
different  words  occur)  Coverdale  always  adopts  tabret.     In 


Rogers  s   Work  as  Editor.  129 

the  books  of  which  we  are  now  speaking,  Matthew's  Bible 
has  always  timbrel^  never  tabret — that  is,  has  Tyndale's 
rendering  and  not  Coverdale's.  The  effect  of  such  evidence 
as  this,  the  accumulation  of  minute  coincidences  between 
Tyndale's  acknowledged  work  and  the  work  which  tradition 
ascribes  to  him,  is  such  as  to  produce  the  strongest  per- 
suasion that  the  tradition  is  true.  This  conclusion  would 
seem  to  leave  Rogers  no  part  in  the  work  of  translation,  and 
to  assign  him  no  higher  place  than  that  of  editor.  There 
is,  however,  a  small  contribution  from  his  own  hand.  In 
Coverdale's  Bible  one  portion  of  the  Apocrypha  was  absent, 
the  Prayer  of  Manasses ;  the  Zurich  translators,  whom 
Coverdale  mainly  followed,  having  passed  over  this  book. 
The  omission  is  here  supplied.  The  translation,  however,  is 
made  neither  from  the  Greek  text,  which  at  that  period  was 
not  accessible,  nor  directly  from  the  Latin,  but  probably 
from  the  French  Bible  of  Olivetan  (1535). 

Rightly  to  estimate  Rogers's  work,  it  would  be  necessary 
to  institute  a  minute  comparison  between  his  Bible  and  the 
earlier  translations  :  the  hand  of  the  careful  editor  is  evident 
throughout,  as  a  few  miscellaneous  examples  will  prove.  In 
Psalm  xiv.  the  intrusive  verses  admitted  by  Coverdale,  and 
still  allowed  to  stand  in  our  Prayer  Books,  are  entirely 
removed.  The  numbering  of  the  Psalms  is  changed,  and 
made  to  agree  with  the  Hebrew.  As  in  the  Hebrew  Bible, 
the  Psalter  is  divided  into  five  books  or  "Treatises." 
"  Hallelujah,"  left  untranslated  by  Coverdale,  is  rendered 
"  Praise  the  everlasting."  In  Psalm  cxix.,  and  in  other 
alphabetical  poems,  the  several  letters  of  the  Hebrew 
alphabet  are  written  at  the  head  of  each  section  and  before 
each  verse.  In  Job  i.  21  Coverdale  had  inserted  after  the 
words,  "  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,"  the  parenthesis,  "  the 
Lord  hath  done  his  pleasure ;"  but  Rogers  removes  these 
words,  adding  the  following  note,  "  The  Greek  and  Origen 
J 


130  The  English  Bible. 

add  hereunto,  As  it  hath  pleased  the  Lord,  so  it  is  done." 
In  Job  xxxiii.  23,  Coverdale  has  "angel,"  where  we  read 
"  interpreter :"  Rogers  substitutes  "  messenger,"  with  an  ex- 
planation in  the  margin,  "  That  is,  an  instructor  with  the 
word  of  God."  These  notes  are  the  most  characteristic 
feature  of  Matthew's  Bible.  Sometimes  dealing  with  points 
of  translation,  sometimes  with  verbal  explanations,  some- 
times with  matters  of  doctrine,  they  furnish  an  interesting 
and  often  a  valuable  commentary  on  the  text.  As  Cover- 
dale's  note  on  Selah  has  been  quoted,  Matthew's  may  be 
given  for  the  sake  of  comparison  :  "  This  word,  after  Rabbi 
Kimchi,  was  a  sign  or  token  of  lifting  up  the  voice,  and  also 
a  monition  and  advertisement  to  enforce  the  thought  and 
mind  earnestly  to  give  heed  to  the  meaning  of  the  verse 
unto  which  it  is  added.  Some  will  that  it  signify  perpetually 
or  verily."  Rogers  deals  very  freely  with  the  notes  of  his 
predecessors.  Where  Tyndale  presses  unduly  into  contro- 
versy with  Rome,  Rogers  again  and  again  declines  to  follow 
him,  but  he  retains  useful  explanations  of  the  text.  He 
does  not  always,  however,  decline  controversy.  Almost  the 
only  note  in  the  Apocryphal  books  (on  2  Mace.  xii.  44)  is  a 
protest  against  the  practice  of  praying  for  the  dead.  In 
the  canonical  books  these  notes,  placed  sometimes  in  the 
margin,  sometimes  at  the  end  of  the  chapter,  are  frequently 
of  considerable  extent,  especially  in  the  Psalms  and  in  some 
parts  of  Isaiah — chap,  xliii.  for  example.  The  titles  of  the 
Psalms  are  carefully  explained,  the  opinions  of  various 
authors  being  quoted.  In  Ps.  ii.  the  verses  are  allotted  to 
the  several  speakers — the  prophet,  the  enemy,  God,  and  the 
ELing  Christ.  The  same  separation  of  personages  is  given 
very  elaborately  in  the  Song  of  Solomon.  In  Ps.  xcvii.  8, 
daughters  are  explained  as  towns  and  villages.  On  the  last 
verse  of  Ps.  cxxxix.  there  is  a  curious  remark  :  "  Some  read, 
Then  lead  me  by  the  way  of  the  world,  that  is,  destroy  me." 


Notes  and  Comments.  131 

In  Gen.  ii.  17,  "die  the  death,"  the  editor  carefully  explains 
the  force  of  such  apparently  redundant  expressions,  such 
"rehearsals  of  words,"  as  he  calls  them.  On  Numb,  xxxiii. 
52,  "chapels,"  he  quotes  two  Rabbins  for  the  alternative 
rendering  "  graved  paving  stones."  In  the  New  Testament 
Rogers  sometimes  gives  in  substance  one  of  Luther's  vigorous 
comments.  Thus  on  John  v.  17  :  "That  is,  my  Father 
keepeth  not  the  Sabbath  day,  no  more  do  I.  But  my  Father 
used  no  common  merchandise  on  the  Sabbath,  and  no  more 
do  I." 

Rogers  does  not  follow  Coverdale  in  giving  the  contents 
of  chapters  in  one  body  at  the  commencement  of  a  book, 
but  usually  prefixes  a  heading  to  each  chapter.  No  pro- 
logues or  introductions  are  given,  as  a  rule.  A  note  at  the 
commencement  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  briefly  states  the 
writer's  view  of  the  meaning  of  this  "  mystical  device." 
The  Book  of  Lamentations  has  an  introduction  slightly 
altered  from  Coverdale's.  The  Apocryphal  books  are  intro- 
duced by  a  preface  (translated  from  Olivetan's  French 
Bible),  in  which  the  inferior  authority  of  these  books  is 
carefully  pointed  out.  In  the  New  Testament  the  only 
insertion  of  the  kind  is  of  considerable  length,  and  is  no 
other  than  Tyndale's  famous  Prologue  to  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans. 

The  preliminary  matter  in  Matthew's  Bible  is  unusually 
elaborate.  Besides  the  dedication  and  the  exhortation 
already  spoken  of,  and  some  other  sections  of  no  great 
length  (as  a  Calendar  and  an  Almanac,  at  the  close  of  which 
we  are  told  that  "  the  year  hath  .  .  .  fifty-two  weeks  and  one 
day  ...  in  all,  365  days  and  six  hours  "),  we  find  a  very 
copious  "Table  of  the  principal  matters  contained  in  the 
Bible,"  occupying  twenty-six  pages.  This  concordance  or 
dictionary  is  not  original,  but  is  translated  from  Olivetan. 
Rogers's  obligations  to  this  French  Bible  were  very  great 

J2 


132  TJie  English  Bible. 

throughout  his  work.  Thus,  the  notes  above  referred  to 
on  Job  i.,  xxxiii.,  Numb,  xxxiii.,  Ps.  xcvii.,  cxxxix.,  2  Mace, 
xii.  44,  and  on  Selah,  the  preface  to  Solomon's  Song,  the 
division  of  the  Psalter  into  five  "  Treatises,"  the  rendering 
of  Hallelujah,  are  either  altogether  or  in  the  main  derived 
from  this  source.  Much  of  the  explanatory  matter  is  taken 
from  the  commentaries  of  Pellican. 

The  order  of  the  books  is  nearly  the  same  as  in  Cover- 
dale's  Bible ;  but  Baruch  is  removed  from  its  place  by  Jere- 
miah, and  placed  between  Ecclesiasticus  and  "  the  song 
of  the  iii  children  in  the  oven."  The  Prayer  of  Manasses 
precedes  i  Maccabees.  The  books  of  the  New  Testament 
are  divided  into  two  groups,  the  historical  books  and  the 
Epistles.  The  order  of  the  Epistles  remains  unaltered, 
I,  2  Peter  and  i,  2,  3  John  coming  between  Philemon  and 
Hebrews  ;  but  there  are  no  breaks  in  the  list,  separating 
the  Epistles  into  different  classes.  There  is  a  curious 
tendency  to  give  two  forms  of  names,  as  "  Ezechiel  or 
Jehezekiell,"  &c. 

Copies  of  Matthew's  Bible  are  to  be  found  in  the 
libraries  of  the  British  Museum  and  of  Lambeth  Palace, 
the  Bodleian  Library,  &c.  The  volume  is  a  fine  folio,  of 
larger  size  than  Coverdale's  Bible.  Like  that  Bible,  it  is 
ornamented  with  woodcuts,  most  of  them  small :  these  are 
most  numerous  in  Exodus  and  the  Revelation.  Of  the  sub- 
sequent editions  of  Matthew's  Bible  (1549,  1551,  &c.)  it  is 
not  necessary  to  say  more  than  that  considerable  alterations 
were  introduced  in  the  notes,  introductions,  &c.,  and  some 
changes  made  in  the  text. 

Closely  connected  with  Matthew's  Bible  is  that  of 
Taverner.  Our  information  respecting  this  translator  is 
mainly  derived  from  a  graphic  account  given  by  Anthony 
\  Wood  (one  of  his  descendants),  in  his  AthencB  Oxonienses. 
Richard  Taverner  was  born  in  1505.     He  was  educated  for 


Taverners  Bible.  133 

a  time  in  Benet  (Corpus  Christi)  College,  Cambridge  ;  but 
after  a  year  and  a  half  went  to  the  Cardinal  College,  Oxford. 
About  1530,  being  now  Master  of  Arts  in  both  universities, 
he  "  went  to  an  inn  of  Chancery,  near  London,  and  thence 
to  the  Inner  Temple,  where  his  humour  was  to  quote  the 
law  in  Greek  when  he  read  anything  thereof."  In  1534  he 
went  to  the  Court,  and  was  taken  into  the  attendance  of 
Cromwell,  through  whose  influence  he  was  afterwards  made 
one  of  the  clerks  of  the  signet.  In  1539  Taverner  pub- 
lished his  edition  of  the  Bible :  "  The  most  sacred  Bible, 
whiche  is  the  holy  scripture,  conteyning  the  old  and  new 
testament,  translated  in  to  English,  and  newly  recognised 
with  great  diligence  after  most  faythful  exemplars,  by 
Rychard  Taverner.  i^g°  Harken  thou  heuen,  and  thou 
erth  gyue  eare  :  for  the  Lorde  speaketh.  Esaie.  i.  Prynted 
at  London  in  Flete  strete  at  the  sygne  of  the  sonne  by  John 
Byddell,  for  Thomas  Barthlet.  Cum  privilegio  ad  iniprimen- 
dum  solum.  M.  D.  XXXIX."  The  version  was  allowed 
to  be  publicly  read  in  churches.  After  the  fall  of  Cromwell, 
in  1540,  Taverner's  labours  on  the  Scriptures  brought  him 
under  censure,  and  he  was  committed  to  the  Tower  :  his 
imprisonment,  however,  was  of  short  duration,  and  he  was 
soon  restored  to  the  king's  favour.  In  1552,  though  a 
layman,  he  received  from  Edward  VI.  a  general  license  to 
preach.  We  are  told  that  he  preached  before  the  king  at 
Court,  and  in  some  public  places  in  the  kingdom,  wearing  a 
velvet  bonnet  or  round  cap,  a  damask  gown,  and  a  chain  of 
gold  about  his  neck  ;  in  which  habit  he  was  seen  and  heard 
preaching  several  times  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  Oxford,  in 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  During  Mary's 
reign  Taverner  prudently  remained  in  retirement.  Eliza- 
beth showed  him  marks  of  special  favour,  and  made  him 
high  sheriff  of  the  county  of  Oxford.  He  died  in  the  year 
1575. 


134  The  English  Bible. 

The  dedication  of  Taverner's  Bible  is  to  King  Henry, 
and  is  characterised  by  manUness  and  good  sense.     The 
prehminary  matter  is  nearly  identical  with  that  found  in 
Matthew's  Bible.      There  are  no  woodcuts,  and  but  few  ex- 
planatory notes.     In  the  numbering  of  the  Psalms  Taverner 
returns  to  the  Vulgate  reckoning,  giving  the  Hebrew  num- 
bers in  the  margin  :  the  division  of  the  Psalter  into  five 
books  no  longer  appears.     The  influence  of  the  Vulgate  is 
distinctly  traceable  in  many,  if  not  in  most,  of  the  changes 
which  Taverner  introduced  in  the  Old  Testament.     Thus, 
in  Gen.  iii.  5,  where   Matthew  has  "  ye  shall  be  as  God," 
Taverner  changes  the  last  word  into  ''•  gods ;"  in  verse  24,  for 
"  a  naked  sword  "  he  writes  "  a  fiery  sword."    In  the  closing 
words  of  Gen.  xlix.  6  the  earlier  rendering,  "  they  houghed 
an  ox,"  is  changed,  certainly  not  for  the  better,  into  "  they 
threw  down  the  walls  of  the  city;"  in  verse  10  "  Shiloh  " 
becomes  "  he  that  is  to  be  sent."     In  Matthew's  Bible  the 
obscure  word  Abrech  (Gen.  xH,  43)  is  retained  in  the  text, 
different   opinions  as  to  its  meaning   being   given  in  the 
margin  ;  Taverner  removes  the  note,  and  reads,  "  that  every 
person  should  bow  his  knee  before  him."     For  "  prisoned 
and  forsaken"  (i  Kings  xxi.  21),  Taverner  has  "incluse  and 
furthest,"  a  bare  and  hardly  intelligible  translation  from  the 
Latin.     Many  of  the  alterations,  however,  give  greater  clear- 
ness to  the  English.     Thus,  "a  curtesye  bawlme "  (Gen. 
xliii.  11)  is  changed  into  "a  quantitie  of  bawlme ;"  by  and 
by  into  forthwith  ;  but  and  if  into  but  if.     On  the  whole, 
the  amount  of  alteration  is  but  small.      In  Numb.   xxiv. 
15 — 24,  for  example,  only  two  words  in  Matthew's  Bible  are 
changed  by  Taverner — viz.,  retnnafit  into  residue,  and  never- 
thelater  into  nevertheless.     The  principal  difference  between 
the  two  works  in  the  Old  Testament,  therefore,  consists  in 
the  absence  of  so  large  a  proportion  of  Rogers's  notes  from 
Taverner's  edition. 


Changes  introduced  by  Taverner.  135 

In  the  New  Testament  the  changes  introduced  by 
Taverner  are  more  numerous.  Thus  in  Matt,  xxi.,  xxii., 
containing  ninety-two  verses,  we  find  about  forty  variations, 
of  which  one-third  are  retained  in  the  Authorised  Version. 
In  ten  or  eleven  of  these  changes  the  object  has  been  to 
remove  superfluous  words;  in  nearly  twenty  a  more  terse 
or  expressive  phrase  has  been  sought  for,  or  a  more  correct 
and  literal  rendering  of  the  Greek.  In  xxii.  12,  "had  never 
a  word  to  say  "  is  more  forcible  than  "  he  was  even  speech- 
less ;"  "  intreated  them  foully "  (ver.  6),  than  "  intreated 
them  ungodly;"  "stopped  the  Sadducees'  mouths"  (ver. 
34),  than  "  put  the  Sadducees  to  silence."  In  Luke  xii.  29, 
where  we  read  "  neither  be  ye  of  doubtful  mind,"  Tyndale's 
translation  is  "neither  climb  ye  up  on  high;"  Taverner's, 
"and  be  not  carried  in  the  clouds."  In  John  viii.  25,  a  very 
difficult  verse,  Tyndale  reads,  "  Even  the  very  same  thing 
that  I  say  unto  you  f  Taverner,  "  First  of  all,  even  that  I  say 
unto  you."  In  John  iii.  8,  Taverner  adopts  the  rendering, 
"The  spirit  breatheth,"  but  with  a  note  that  "spirit  is  here 
taken  for  the  wind."  Another  added  note  is  in  the  Epistle 
of  St.  Jude,  on  the  word  "feasting"  (ver.  12)  :  "  Feastinges 
for  the  relyef  of  the  poore  were  called  charytyes."  Many 
more  examples  of  improved  English  or  more  faithful  render- 
ings might  easily  be  given.  It  must,  however,  be  confessed 
that  in  difficult  passages  Taverner  often  fails  us,  and  that 
many  plain  mistakes  in  earlier  versions  remain  uncorrected. 
In  Acts  xxvii.  9,  for  instance,  Taverner  retains  Tyndale's 
translation,  "  because  that  we  had  overlong  fasted  ;"  and  in 
Acts  xii.  19  we  read  even  here  that  Herod  commanded  the 
keepers  "  to  depart."  A  curious  feature  in  this  edition  is 
the  occasional  adoption  of  a  novel  spelling,  in  accordance 
with  the  etymology  of  a  word.  As  a  whole,  the  version  is 
of  very  unequal  merit — the  work  of  a  scholar,  able  and 
energetic,  but  somewhat  capricious  and  uncertain. 


136  The  English  Bible. 

Tavemer's  Bible  was  published  both  in  folio  and  in 
quarto  ;  his  New  Testament  in  quarto  and  in  octavo  in  the 
same  year.  Another  edition  of  the  New  Testament  (some- 
what altered)  appeared  in  1540;  of  the  Old  Testament  in 
155 1.  Copies  of  Tavemer's  Bible  may  be  seen  in  the 
libraries  of  the  British  Museum,  St.  Paul's,  the  University 
of  Cambridge,  &c.^ 

1  In  his  description  of  the  copy  lent  by  Earl  Spencer  to  the  Caxton 
Exhibition,  Mr.  Stevens — after  remarking  that  Tavemer's  Bible  is  very 
seldom  found  quite  complete — says :  "This  copy,  like  all  others  I  have 
seen,  wants  signature  K,  or  folios  55 — 60  in  the  New  Testament.  This 
hiatus  of  six  leaves  was  probably  intended  to  be  filled  with  a  Prologue 
to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans."     {Catalogue^  p.  128.) 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE    GREAT    BIBLE. 

The  current  of  our  history  now  returns  to  Coverdale,  whom 
we  left  in  Paris  in  the  year  1538.  He  had  been  charged 
by  his  patron,  Cromwell,  with  the  duty  of  preparing  another 
Bible,  differing  in  some  important  respects  from  the  two 
already  in  circulation — his  own  of  1535  and  that  bearing 
the  name  of  Thomas  Matthew.  The  excellence  of  Parisian 
paper  and  typography  was  the  cause  of  the  selection  of  this 
city  for  the  new  work.  There  was  nothing  stealthy  or 
secret  in  the  procedure  adopted.  Cromwell  was  the  patron 
of  this  especial  undertaking;  and  through  his  influence  a 
license  was  obtained  from  the  king  of  France,  Francis  L, 
by  which  Coverdale  and  Grafton  were  authorised,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  liberty  which  they  had  received  from  their 
own  sovereign,  to  print  and  transmit  to  England  the  Latin 
or  the  English  Bible,  on  condition  that  there  were  no  private 
or  unlawful  opinions  in  the  new  work,  and  that  all  dues, 
obligations,  &c.,  were  properly  discharged.  Under  this  pro- 
tection Coverdale  and  Grafton  applied  themselves  with  the 
utmost  diligence  to  the  fulfilment  of  their  commission. 
Letters  to  Cromwell  are  still  extant,  which  contain  very 
interesting  notes  of  progress,  and  also  show  how  deeply 
Cromwell  interested  himself  in  the  work.  For  seven  or 
eight  months  the  two  Englishmen  and  their  associate,  Reg- 
nault,  the  French  printer,  seem  to  have  been  left  unmolested. 
In  December,  however,  there  came  a  mandate  from  the 
Inquisition,  which  stayed  all  progress.     Happily,  a  portion 


138  The  English  Bible. 

of  the  Bible  was  safe  in  England.  Many  sheets  were  seized ; 
but  even  these  were  in  large  measure  afterwards  recovered, 
"  four  great  dry  vats-full "  being  re-purchased  from  a  haber- 
dasher, to  whom  they  had  been  sold.  The  interruption 
caused  a  slight  delay,  but  was  most  beneficial  in  its  results. 
Cromwell  was  not  the  man  to  be  foiled  in  his  purpose : 
being  unable  to  secure  the  accomplishment  of  the  work  in 
France,  he  brought  over  types,  presses,  and  men  to  England. 
In  April,  1539,  this  "  Bible  of  the  largest  volume,"  as  it  was 
then  spoken  of,  or  the  first  edition  of  the  Great  Bible,  was 
issued  from  the  press. 

The  title-page,  said  to  have  been  designed  by  the  cele- 
brated Hans  Holbein,  is  curious  and  very  interesting.  A 
reduced  copy  is  given  at  the  commencement  of  this  volume. 
The  original  measures  about  fourteen  inches  by  nine  ;  the 
copy,  about  eight  and  a  half  by  five  and  a  half  The  highest 
figure  in  the  engraving  represents  the  Lord  Christ  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven.  Two  labels  contain  His  words.  On  that 
which  extends  towards  the  left  of  the  engraving  we  find 
Isa.  Iv.  II  {Verbum  meum,  &c.).  The  other  is  directed 
towards  the  king,  who,  having  laid  aside  his  crown,  and 
kneeling  with  outstretched  hands,  receives  the  declaration, 
"  I  have  found  a  man  after  mine  own  heart,  which  shall 
fulfil  all  my  will"  {Invefii,  &c..  Acts  xiii.  22);  and  himself 
exclaims,  "Thy  word  is  a  lamp  unto  my  feet"  (Ps. 
cxix.  105).  The  king  appears  again  as  the  most  prominent 
of  all  the  figures.  Now  he  is  seated  on  his  throne  :  the 
royal  arms  and  motto  will  be  recognised  at  once.  The  king 
hands  the  word  of  God  ( Verbum  Dei)  to  bishops  and  clergy 
on  his  right  hand,  to  Cromwell  and  others  of  the  laity  on 
his  left.  To  the  former  he  says,  Hcec  prcBcipe  et  doce  ("  These 
things  command  and  teach,"  i  Tim.  iv.  11) :  to  the  latter, 
Quod  justum  est  Judicate,  ita  parimm  audietis  ut  magnum 
("Judge  righteously     ...     ye  shall  hear  the  small  as 


Title-page  of  the  Great  Bible.  139 

well  as  the  great,"  Deut.  i.  16,  17);  and  also  words  taken 
with  slight  alteration  from  Dan.  vi.  26,  "I  make  a  decree ; 
.  .  .  fear  before  the  living  God."  Below,  on  the  right, 
Cromwell  appears  a  second  time,  pointed  out  by  the  device 
and  motto  at  his  feet :  he  is  delivering  the  Word  of  God  to 
the  laity,  admonishing  them  in  the  words  of  Ps.  xxxiv.  14. 
On  the  other  side  is  Cranmer,  clearly  indicated  by  his 
costume  and  his  arms,  placing  the  sacred  volume  in  the 
hands  of  one  of  his  clergy,  and  solemnly  repeating  the 
charge  of  i  Peter  v.  2.  Below  stands  a  preacher,  enforcing 
the  duty  of  prayer  and  thanksgiving  on  behalf  of  kings 
(i  Tim.  ii.  i).  The  chorus  of  joy  and  thankfulness  expressed 
in  the  attitude  of  the  king's  lieges,  no  less  distinctly  than  in 
the  shouts  of  "  Vivat  Rex,''  and  "God  save  the  king,"  needs 
no  comment.  Prisoners  look  wistfully  from  their  cells  ;  but 
whether  they  are  introduced  as  wondering  at  the  commo- 
tion, or  as  sharers  in  the  joy,  or  as  affording  in  their  own 
persons  a  warning  that  such  punishment  awaited  all  undu- 
tiful  subjects,  it  is  not  easy  to  decide.  Many  smaller 
features  of  this  remarkable  composition  well  deserve  a 
careful  examination.  It  represents,  with  great  faithfulness, 
a  page  of  the  history  of  the  times.  That  the  precious 
boon  now  conferred  was  the  result  of  no  human  contri- 
vance, is  thankfully  acknowledged  here,  and  in  the 
imprint  even  more  clearly  still :  A  Domino  factum  est  istud 
("This  is  the  Lord's  doing")  are  the  translator's  pious 
words,  in  which  the  devout  student  of  history  will  heartily 
unite. 

Nor  does  the  engraving  exaggerate  the  liberty  granted 
by  the  king.  An  injunction  to  the  clergy,  issued  by  Henry's 
authority,  required  them  to  provide  by  a  certain  date,  in 
each  parish,  "one  book  of  the  whole  Bible,  of  the  largest 
volume  in  English,"  the  cost  to  be  divided  between  the 
parson  and  the  parishioners.     It  was   ordained   that  this 


140  The  English  Bible. 

Bible  should  be  set  up  in  a  convenient  place  within  the 
church,  and  that  the  clergy  should  "  expressly  provoke,  stir, 
and  exhort  every  person  to  read  the  same."  This  injunc- 
tion, drawn  up  by  Cromwell  before  the  publication  of  the 
work,  was  twice  repeated  in  subsequent  years ;  and  no  his- 
torian fails  to  relate  that  Bishop  Bonner  placed  six  Bibles  in 
St.  Paul's. 

Another  point  worth  careful  notice  is  the  prominence 
assigned  by  the  artist  to  Cromwell.  This  Bible  is  often 
called  Cranmer's,  but  without  any  just  reason.  All  honour 
is  due  to  the  Archbishop  for  his  exertions  to  promote  its 
circulation,  but  the  undertaking  was  not  his,  but  Comwell's ; 
and  the  Bible  is  now  rightly  associated  with  Cromwell's 
name.  Fifteen  months  after  its  publication  Cromwell  was 
disgraced  and  sentenced  to  death ;  but,  though  the  circle 
under  his  feet  is  left  blank  in  the  title-page  of  subsequent 
editions,  the  figures  remain  unchanged,  and  thus  all  copies 
of  the  Great  Bible  preserve  the  memorial  of  Cromwell's 
zeal. 

Equally  truthful  is  this  celebrated  engraving  in  its 
presentation  of  the  national  feeling.  "  It  was  wonderful," 
says  Strype,^  **  to  see  with  what  joy  this  book  of  God  was 
received,  not  only  among  the  learneder  sort,  and  those  that 
were  noted  for  lovers  of  the  Reformation,  but  generally  all 
England  over,  among  all  the  vulgar  and  common  people  ; 
and  with  what  greediness  God's  word  was  read ;  and  what 
resort  to  places  where  the  reading  of  it  was.  Everybody 
that  could  bought  the  book,  or  busily  read  it,  or  got  others 
to  read  it  to  them,  if  they  could  not  themselves ;  and  divers 
more  elderly  people  learned  to  read  on  purpose.  And 
even  little  boys  flocked  among  the  rest  to  hear  portions  of 
the  holy  Scripture  read."  The  most  convincing  proof  of 
the  accuracy  of  these  statements  is  the  rapidity  with  which 
'  Life  of  Cranmer,  I. ,  p.  92. 


Cranmer's  Bible.  141 

successive  editions  were  printed  and  circulated.  Cromwell's 
Bible,  hastily  snatched  from  destruction,  was  given  to  the 
world  in  April,  1539.  There  are  still  extant  copies  of  six 
editions  bearing  the  date  1540  and  1541.  Nor  were  these 
mere  reprints  of  Cromwell's  Bible.  As  we  shall  see,  the 
agreement  amongst  the  seven  Bibles  is  sufficiently  great  to 
authorise  us  in  including  them  in  one  family  and  under  one 
designation ;  but  each  has  pecuHarities  which  distinguish  it 
from  the  rest. 

Cranmer's  direct  connexion  with  the  book  begins  with 
the  second  edition.  On  the  14th  of  November,  1539, 
Henry  bestowed  on  Cromwell,  for  five  years,  the  exclusive 
right  to  grant  a  license' for  the  printing  of  the  Bible  in  the 
English  tongue.  A  letter  from  Cranmer  to  Cromwell  is 
extant,  bearing  the  same  date,  in  which  the  Archbishop 
conveys  the  undertaking  of  the  printers  to  sell  the  Bibles  at 
a  price  not  exceeding  ten  shilHngs,  on  condition  of  receiving 
a  monopoly  of  the  publication.  In  this  letter  Cranmer  asks 
"  the  king's  pleasure  concerning  the  Preface  of  the  Bible," 
which  had  been  sent  to  Cromwell  to  "oversee."  This 
Bible  had  been  committed  by  Henry  to  Gardiner  and 
others  among  the  bishops  for  their  judgment.  "  After  they 
had  kept  it  long  in  their  hands,  and  the  king  was  divers 
times  sued  unto  for  the  publication  thereof,  at  the  last 
being  called  for  by  the  king  himself,  they  re-delivered  the 
book  ;  and  being  demanded  by  the  king  what  was  their 
judgment  of  the  translation,  they  answered  that  there  were 
many  faults  therein.  '  Well,'  said  the  king,  '  but  are  there 
any  heresies  maintained  thereby?'  They  answered,  there 
were  no  heresies  that  they  could  find  maintained  thereby. 
'  If  there  be  no  heresies,'  said  the  king,  '  then,  in  God's 
name,  let  it  go  abroad  among  our  people.'  According  to 
this  judgment  of  the  king  and  the  bishops,  M.  Coverdale 
defended  the  translation,  confessing  that  he  did  now  himself 


142  The  English  Bible. 

espy  some  faults,  which,  if  he  might  review  it  once  over 
again,  as  he  had  done  twice  before,  he  doubted  not  but  to 
amend ;  but  for  any  heresy,  he  was  sure  there  was  none 
maintained  by  his  translation."^  In  April,  1540,  the  Book 
was  published  with  Cranmer's  preface,  which  henceforth  was 
attached  to  all  editions  of  the  Great  Bible.  Three  months 
later  appeared  another  edition,  which,  like  the  last,  bore 
Cranmer's  name  on  the  title-page.  In  November  of  the 
same  year  the  fourth  edition  was  ready  for  issue,  though 
not  published  until  1541.  It  appeared  under  very  strange 
auspices,  as  the  title  will  show :  "  The  Byble  in  Englyshe 
of  the  largest  and  greatest  volume,  auctorysed  and  apoynted 
by  the  commaundemente  of  oure  moost  redoubted  Prynce 
and  Soueraygne  Lorde  Kynge  Henrye  the  viii.,  supreme 
heade  of  this  his  Churche  and  Realme  of  Englande  :  to  be 
frequented  and  used  in  every  churche  within  this  his  sayd 
realme  accordynge  to  the  tenour  of  his  former  Iniunctions 
geven  in  that  behalfe.  Oversene  and  perused  at  the  com- 
maundement  of  the  kynges  hyghnes,  by  the  ryghte  reve- 
rende  fathers  in  God  Cuthbert  bysshop  of  Duresme^  and 
Nicolas^  bisshop  of  Rochester."  It  is  probable  that  the 
association  of  Tunstall  and  Heath  with  this  edition  was 
little  more  than  nominal.  Lest  the  work  in  which  Crom- 
well had  taken  so  deep  an  interest  should  suffer  after  his 
fall,  other  names,  representing  widely  different  tendencies 
and  sympathies,  must  give  it  warrant  and  authority.  Three 
other  editions  were  issued  in  1541,  one  (November)  similar 
to  that  just  described,  in  its  connexion  with  the  two 
bishops;  two  (May,  December)  bearing  Cranmer's  name 
upon  the  tide-page.  We  are  not  told  how  large  were  the 
impressions  of  the  later  editions ;   but  as  the  first  edition 

^  Fulke,  Defence  of  Evglish  Translations,  p.  98  (Parker  Society). 
2  Cuthbert  Tunstall,  Bishop  of  Durham. 
*  Nicholas  Heath. 


Plan  for  a  New  Translation.  143 

consisted  of  2,500  copies,  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
that  the  number  circulated  during  these  years  of  liberty  was 
very  large. 

The  liberty  was  too  remarkable  to  be  of  long  duration. 
Soon  after  Cromwell's  disgrace  the  opposite  party  at- 
tempted to  avail  themselves  of  Coverdale's  scheme  for 
annotations  on  difficult  texts  (a  scheme  never  carried  into 
effect),  for  the  purpose  of  checking  altogether  the  printing 
of  the  Bible.  Grafton  indeed  was  committed  to  the  Fleet, 
and  bound  under  a  heavy  penalty  not  to  print  or  sell  any 
more  Bibles  until  the  king  and  clergy  should  agree  on  a 
translation.  In  1542  Convocation,  at  the  king's  instance, 
arranged  a  plan  for  a  new  translation.  The  books  of  the 
New  Testament  were  allotted  to  various  bishops — St. 
Matthew,  for  instance,  being  taken  by  Cranmer,  St.  Luke 
by  Gardiner,  the  Acts  by  Heath.  The  plan  soon  fell  to 
the  ground.  When  one  of  the  translators  (Bishop  Gardiner) 
could  propose  that  ninety-nine  words,  such  as  pa7iis  propo- 
sitionis  (shewbread),  simulacrum  (image),  hostia  (victim), 
ejicere  (to  cast  out),  should  "on  account  of  their  genuine 
and  native  meaning,  and  the  majesty  of  the  matter  signified 
by  them,"  be  presented  to  the  people  in  this  Latin  dress,  it 
became  very  evident  that  the  bishops  had  no  real  wish  for  a 
vernacular  translation.  The  king  now  directed  that  the  uni- 
versities should  be  intrusted  with  the  work,  but  the  adverse 
influences  had  become  sufficiently  powerful  to  frustrate  this 
design.  About  this  time  Anthony  Marler,  a  haberdasher  of 
London,  who  had  borne  the  expenses  of  the  earlier  editions 
of  the  Great  Bible,  received  from  Henry  a  patent,  conveying 
to  him  the  exclusive  right  of  printing  the  English  Bible  during 
four  years.  In  1543,  however,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures 
was  by  Act  of  Parliament  placed  under  very  severe  restric- 
tions. The  use  of  Tyndale's  translations  was  entirely  for- 
bidden,  and  three  years  later  Coverdale's  Testament  was 


144  ^^^^  English  Bible, 

placed  under  the  same  ban.  Permission  to  read  the  Bible 
in  English  was  accorded  to  certain  classes  only.  Obedi- 
ence to  these  injunctions  was  enforced  by  many  penalties, 
and  was  still  more  effectually  promoted  by  the  zeal  of  the 
numerous  opponents  of  the  Reformation,  who  spared  no 
pains  to  crush  out  the  growing  love  for  the  Scriptures. 
On  all  sides  the  proscribed  Bibles  were  sought  for  and 
destroyed.  All  the  better  traditions  of  earlier  years  were 
fast  passing  into  oblivion,  when  the  reaction  was  suddenly 
stayed  by  the  death  of  the  king  in  January,  1547. 

We  pass  to  a  brief  examination  of  the  character  of  this 
translation.  The  principal  questions  before  us  are  these  : — 
In  what  relation  does  the  Great  Bible  stand  to  those 
previously  published  by  Coverdale  and  Rogers?  What 
influences  may  be  traced  in  this  new  version  ?  How  far 
are  we  justified  in  speaking  of  the  seven  issues  in  1539 
and  the  two  following  years  as  editions  of  the  same  work  ? 

Comparing  Numb.  xxiv.  15 — 24,  as  given  in  the  Great 
Bible,  with  the  translations  of  Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  we 
find  that  in  every  four  places  in  which  these  two  translators 
differ,  the  Great  Bible  agrees  with  Tyndale  three  times,  with 
Coverdale's  Bible  once.  Very  rarely  do  we  find  any  new 
rendering  of  importance.  The  most  striking  are  in  verse 
16,  "and  that  falleth  with  open  eyes;"  verse  18,  "and 
Edom  shall  be  possessed,  and  Seir  shall  fall  to  the  pos- 
session of  their  enemies;"  verse  22,  "the  Kenite  shall  be 
rooted  out;"  verse  24,  "Italy,'*  in  the  place  of  "  Chittim." 
In  most  of  the  new  renderings  the  authority  followed  is 
Miinster's  Hebrew-Latin  Bible,  published  in  1534-5.  In 
the  early  books  of  the  Old  Testament  the  successive  editions 
of  the  Great  Bible  appear  to  be  nearly  in  accord,  the 
work  of  revision  being  in  the  main  completed  when  the 
book  was  first  published  in  1539.  If  we  pass  to  the  pro- 
phetical books  we  meet  with  a  much  larger  proportion  of 


Comparison  with  Previous    Versions.  145 

new  matter.  In  Isa.  liii.,  for  example,  the  Bible  of  1539 
differs  in  about  forty  places  from  Coverdale's  former  trans- 
lation ;  in  the  Bible  known  as  Cranmer's  we  find  about 
twenty  additional  alterations,  some  of  great  importance  ; 
in  the  editions  of  1541  hardly  any  further  change  was  made. 
The  influence  of  Miinster  is  to  be  seen  in  almost  every 
case.  We  gladly  welcome  such  renderings  as  "  the  chas- 
tisement of  our  peace"  (1540)  in  the  place  of  "the  pain 
of  our  punishment"  (1539);  and  "the  Lord  hath  heaped 
together  upon  him  the  iniquity  of  us  all,"  is  a  more  ade- 
quate representation  of  the  prophet's  meaning  than  "  through 
him  the  Lord  hath  pardoned  all  our  sins."  We  need  not 
examine  other  passages  in  detail.  So  far  as  the  Old 
Testament  is  concerned,  we  see  that  the  term  Great  Bible 
represents  in  the  main  two  revisions  (1539,  1540);  and 
that,  whilst  much  use  was  made  of  the  Vulgate  and  of  the 
Complutensian  Polyglott,  Miinster's  Latin  version  was  the 
authority  to  which  Coverdale  chiefly  deferred. 

In  its  general  character  the  New  Testament  is  very 
similar  to  the  Old,  In  Luke  xv.,  xvi.,  for  example,  the 
Great  Bible  almost  always  agrees  either  with  Tyndale's  or 
with  Coverdale's  earlier  version,  but  in  most  instances  with 
Tyndale.  What  is  new  is  of  little  value.  The  impression 
produced  by  these  chapters  is  confirmed  as  we  extend  our 
survey.  There  are,  however,  some  changes  of  detail  which 
are  very  important,  though  they  are  not  always  changes  for 
the  better.  Thus  in  John  iii.  3,  "  born  anew "  gives  place 
to  "born  from  above ;"  in  John  x.  16,  "  one  fold  "  is  unfor- 
tunately substituted  for  "  one  flock  ;"  in  John  xiv.  i,  the 
familiar  rendering,  "ye  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me," 
takes  the  place  of  Tyndale's,  in  which  all  was  exhortation 
("  believe  in  God,  believe  also  in  me  ").  In  these  passages 
the  change  is  apparently  due  to  the  authority  of  Erasmus. 
Throughout  the  New  Testament,  indeed,  the  new  render- 

K 


146  The  English  Bible. 

ings  are  mainly  derived  from  Erasmus  and  the  Vulgate. 
The  later  editions  of  the  Great  Bible  sometimes  contain 
valuable  emendations,  but  the  amount  of  variation  is 
apparently  not  great. 

The  chief  characteristic  of  the  Great  Bible  is  found,  not 
in  its  translations,  but  in  its  text.  In  one  of  his  letters  to 
Cromwell,  Coverdale  speaks  of  the  care  with  which  he  notes 
the  "  diversity  of  reading  among  the  Hebrews,  Chaldees, 
and  Greeks,  and  Latinists."  The  result  is,  that  on  every 
page  of  this  version  we  find  some  additions  to  the  text. 
The  reader  may  remember  that  Purvey's  version  of  Pro- 
verbs contains  several  clauses  and  verses  found  in  the  Latin 
text,  but  not  in  the  Hebrew  (see  p.  27).  Almost  all  these 
supplements  may  be  seen  in  the  Great  Bible.  The  same 
phenomenon  meets  us  in  the  New  Testament.  In  Luke  xvi. 
21,  for  instance,  we  read  of  Lazarus,  that  "no  man  gave 
unto  him;"  at  the  end  of  i  Cor.  xvi.  19,  we  find  the  words, 
"with  whom  also  I  am  lodged;"  and  it  is  in  this  version 
that  Luke  xvii.  36  first  finds  a  place.  It  must  be  confessed 
that  his  unwillingness  to  give  up  any  portion  of  the  text 
presented  by  the  Vulgate  sometimes  (in  i  John  ii.  23,  for 
example)  led  Coverdale  to  adopt  readings  which  are  now 
recognised  as  correct ;  but  this  good  fortune  is  only  occa- 
sional. As  a  rule,  the  additions  found  no  favour  with  later 
editors.  These  supplements,  however,  were  not  presented 
by  Coverdale  as  part  of  the  text,  but  were  placed  within 
parentheses,  printed  in  a  different  type,  and  pointed  out  to 
the  reader  by  a  special  sign.  Besides  this  sign,  a  hand 
(^^)  is  of  very  frequent  occurrence  in  both  text  and 
margin  of  the  Great  Bible.  It  had  been  Coverdale's  in- 
tention to  supply  numerous  annotations  on  difificulties  of 
every  description,  and  great  was  his  regret  when  the 
hurry  and  confusion  amidst  which  the  first  edition  was 
completed  rendered  this  part  of  his  scheme  impracticable. 


TJie  Psalter.  147 

The  notes  were  never  published,  but  in  the  first  three 
editions  the  sign  remained.  Another  mark  ( +  )  is  used  in 
the  Old  Testament,  to  point  out  passages  which  are 
*'  alleged  of  Christ  or  of  some  apostle  in  the  New 
Testament." 

One  portion  of  the  Great  Bible  stands  apart  from  the 
rest,  not  indeed  in  internal  character,  but  in  virtue  of  its 
subsequent  history.  A  note  at  the  beginning  of  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  states  that  the  Psalter  therein  contained 
"  followeth  the  division  of  the  Hebrews,  and  the  translation 
of  the  great  English  Bible,  set  forth  and  used  in  the  time 
of  King  Henry  the  Eighth  and  Edward  the  Sixth."  This 
translation  was  necessarily  adopted  in  connexion  with  the 
first  Prayer  Book  (1549),  and  obtained  a  very  strong  hold 
upon  the  people.  At  the  last  revision  of  the  Prayer  Book 
(1662),  when  the  new  translation  was  accepted  for  the 
Epistles  and  Gospels,  it  proved  impossible  to  change  the 
Psalter.  "  It  was  found,  it  is  said,  smoother  to  sing ;  but 
this  is  not  a  full  account  of  the  matter,  and  it  cannot  be 
mere  familiarity  which  gives  to  the  Prayer  Book  Psalter, 
with  all  its  errors  and  imperfections,  an  incomparable  ten- 
derness and  sweetness.  Rather  we  may  believe  that  in  it 
we  can  yet  find  the  spirit  of  him  whose  work  it  mainly  is, 
full  of  humility  and  love,  not  heroic  or  creative,  but  patient 
to  accomplish  by  God's  help  the  task  which  had  been  set 
him  to  do,  and  therefore  best  in  harmony  with  the  tenour  of 
our  own  daily  lives."  ^  The  general  characteristics  of  the 
version  are  found  here  also.  Every  careful  reader  has  been 
struck  with  the  additional  words  and  clauses  found  in  the 
Psalter  of  the  Prayer  Book.  For  example,  "  him  that  rideth 
upon  the  heavens,  as  it  were  upon  an  horse  ^'  (Ps.  Ixviii. 
4);  "their  corn,  and  wine,  and  oil"  (iv.  8);  "a  moth 
fretting  a  garment"  (xxxix.  12) ;  "God  is  a  righteous  Judge, 

^  Westcott,  History^  p.  294, 
K2 


148  The  English  Bible. 

strong  and  patient "  (vii.  12) ;  "  even  where  710  fear  was'^  (xiv. 
9) ;  "  neither  the  temples  of  my  head  to  take  any  rest "  (cxxxii. 
4).  In  Ps.  xxix.  I,  we  find  a  double  translation  of  one 
clause,  "  bring  young  rams  unto  the  Lord,"  and  "  ascribe 
unto  the  Lord  glory  and  strength."  A  verse  is  added  to 
Ps.  cxxxvi.,  and  three  verses  are  introduced  into  Ps.  xiv. 
Canon  Westcott  gives  a  list  of  more  than  seventy  of  these  ad- 
ditions, some  from  Munster,  but  for  the  most  part  brought  in 
from  the  Vulgate.  In  the  Great  Bible  the  word,  or  clause, 
or  verse,  is  in  almost  all  cases  carefully  separated  from  the 
context,  and  marked  as  an  addition ;  but  unfortunately  all 
such  distinction  has  been  obliterated  in  our  editions  of  the 
Prayer  Book.  The  titles  of  the  Psalms,  and  such  notes  as 
Selah,  omitted  in  ihe  Prayer  Book,  are  here  given  in  full. 
The  curious  love  of  variety  of  rendering,  so  characteristic 
of  Coverdale,  is  often  observable.  The  "  chief  musician  "  is 
usually  "  the  chanter,"  but  sometimes  "  he  that  excelleth." 
Michtam  of  David  becomes  "  the  badge  or  arms  of  David." 
Halleluya  is  retained  from  the  original,  b)ut  a  translation, 
"Praise  the  everlasting,"  is  placed  by  its  side.  As  we 
might  expect,  the  inscriptions  of  the  Psalms  are  sometimes 
enlarged  from  the  Latin.  Thus  Ps.  xxiv.  is  assigned  to 
"  the  first  day  of  the  Sabbath."  It  is  curious  to  read  at 
the  beginning  of  Ps.  xxvi.  "  a  Psalm  of  David  afore  he  was 
embalmed." 

There  is  little  requiring  notice  in  the  arrangement  of 
the  Great  Bible.  It  contains  no  dedication.  In  the  table 
of  contents  the  word  "  Hagiographa  "  (a  name  designating 
those  books  of  the  Old  Testament  which  are  not  included 
under  "  the  Law  "  and  "  the  Prophets  " — such  as  Job,  the 
Psalms,  &c.)  strangely  takes  the  place  of  "Apocrypha." 
As  in  the  earlier  editions  of  the  Great  Bible  Rogers's  pre- 
face to  the  Apocryphal  books  is  retained,  we  light  upon  the 
astonishing  statement  that  "the  books  are  called  Hagio- 


Copies  in  Existence.  149 

grapha  because  they  were  wont  to  be  read,  not  openly  and 
in  common,  but  as  it  were  in  secret  and  apart."  ^  The  pre- 
Hminary  matter  resembles  that  of  Matthew's  Bible.  The 
Concordance,  however,  is  omitted,  and  a  short  prologue  is 
inserted,  to  explain  the  marks  found  in  the  text  and  margin. 
Short  headings  are  usually  prefixed  to  the  chapters,  but  no 
book  has  a  preface,  unless  the  three  or  four  lines  expressing 
the  general  meaning  of  the  Song  of  Solomon  can  be  so 
considered. 

Many  copies  of  the  Great  Bible  have  been  preserved. 
Mr.  Fry,  to  whom  we  owe  the  most  complete  and  accurate 
account  of  the  various  editions,  has  examined  nearly  one 
hundred  and  fifty  copies ;  most  of  these,  however,  are  in- 
complete, perfect  copies  being  very  rare.  The  library  of 
the  British  Museum  contains  every  one  of  the  seven  editions. 
At  Lambeth  Palace  may  be  seen  copies  of  the  first  two 
editions  which  may  very  possibly  have  belonged  to  Cranmer 
himself.  Amongst  the  treasures  of  the  library  of  St.  John's 
College,  Cambridge,  is  a  splendid  copy  of  Cromwell's  Bible, 
printed  on  vellum  and  illuminated  j  another  copy  on  vellum 
(April,  1540),  presented  by  Anthony  Marler  to  Henry  VIII., 
is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum.  A  useful  reprint  of 
the  New  Testament  of  1539  will  be  found  in  Bagster's 
English  Hexapla. 

1  See  Prof.  Plumptre's  article  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Bible,  iii.  1,675. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    GENEVAN    VERSIONS. 

The  accession  of  Edward  VI.  gave  new  life  to  the  hopes  of 
all  friends  to  the  diffusion  of  Scripture  truth.  We  are  told 
by  some  writers  that  from  the  very  first  the  young  prince  mani- 
fested his  reverence  for  the  Bible,  requiring  that  the  Sacred 
Book,  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  should  at  his  coronation  be 
carried  before  him.  The  restrictions  which  Henry  had  laid 
upon  the  printing  and  reading  of  the  Scriptures  were  at  once 
removed.  In  the  first  year  of  Edward's  reign  an  injunction 
was  issued  requiring  every  beneficed  person  to  provide 
within  three  months  a  copy  of  the  EngHsh  Bible  "  of  the 
largest  volume,"  and  within  twelve  months  a  copy  of 
Erasmus's  Paraphrase  on  the  Gospels.  As  before,  it  was 
required  that  the  books  should  be  set  up  in  some  convenient 
place  within  the  church,  that  they  might  be  read  by  the 
parishioners.  In  1548  official  inquiry  was  made  as  to  the 
obedience  which  had  been  paid  to  this  injunction.  A  period 
of  remarkable  activity  in  the  printing  and  circulation  of  the 
Scriptures  immediately  followed.  Mr.  Anderson's  list  of 
the  editions  published  in  Edward's  short  reign  comprises 
thirteen  or  fourteen  Bibles,  and  as  many  as  thirty-five  New 
Testaments  separately  printed.  Of  the  editions  of  the 
whole  Bible  seven  were  of  the  last  translation,  three  of 
Matthew's,  two  of  Coverdale's,  one  (and,  in  part,  another) 
of  Taverner's.  Of  the  editions  of  the  New  Testament  two 
out  of  every  three  contain  Tyndale's  version. 

The  many  important  events  of  this  reign  do  not  fall 


Chekes   Translation  of  St.  Matthew.  1 5 1 

within  our  province.  The  Prayer  Books  issued  in  1548 
and  1552  contain  portions  of  Scripture  which  call  for  a  brief 
notice,  but  they  will  most  naturally  come  before  us  at  a  later 
period,  in  connexion  with  the  final  revision  of  the  Liturgy. 
There  is,  however,  one  version  (a  fragment)  of  the  New 
Testament  which  must  not  be  passed  over.  The  author  is 
no  obscure  divine,  but  the  scholar  who,  as  Milton  says, 
"  taught  Cambridge  and  King  Edward  Greek."  Sir  John 
Cheke,  appointed  by  Henry  (in  1540)  Professor  of  Greek  in 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  in  1544  chosen  as  tutor 
to  the  young  prince,  was  one  of  those  scholars  who  laboured 
with  the  greatest  zeal  and  success  in  the  revival  of  the  study 
of  the  classical  languages.  In  one  of  the  manuscripts  in 
the  library  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge,  is  a  trans- 
lation of  St.  Matthew  written  by  Cheke's  own  hand,  pro- 
bably about  the  year  1550.  The  manuscript  was  first 
printed  in  1843,  under  the  editorship  of  the  Rev.  J.  Good- 
win. Besides  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew  (which  is  complete, 
with  the  exception  of  about  fifty  verses)  the  translation 
embraces  part  of  the  first  chapter  of  St.  Mark.  In  the 
orthography,  which  is  very  peculiar,  Cheke  follows  a  system 
of  his  own.  But  the  most  remarkable  feature  of  his  work 
is  the  persistent  endeavour  to  express  all  ideas  by  means  of 
home-born  words ;  we  might  almost  suppose  the  translation 
to  have  been  the  result  of  a  reaction  against  Gardiner's 
movement  for  a  semi-Latin  version  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
following  extract,  though  short,  will  sufficiently  show  the 
character  of  this  singular  fragment.  The  peculiar  ortho- 
graphy is  preserved,  but  not  the  contractions  in  writing, 
which  are  numerous. 

ST.  MATTHEW  XIV.  26 — 33. 

And  his  discipils  seing  him  walking  on  the  see  weer  trobled,  saieng 
that  it  was  a  phantasm,  and  thai  cried  out  for  fear.  Jesus  bi  and  bi 
spaak  to  them  and  said,  Be  of  good  cheer.     Jt  is  J,  fear  not.     Peter 


152  The  English  Bible. 

answerd  vnto  him.  Sir,  saith  he,  Jf  it  be  thou,  bid  me  comm  on  the 
water  vnto  the.  And  he  said,  Comm  on.  And  Peter  cam  doun  out  of 
the  boot  and  walked  on  the  waters  to  com  to  Jesus.  And  seing  the 
wind  strong,  was  aferd,  and  when  he  began  to  sink  he  cried  out.  Lord, 
saith  he,  save  me.  Jesus  bi  and  bi  stretched  forth  his  hand,  and  took 
hold  of  him,  and  said  vnto  him,  Thou  smal  faithed,  whi  hast  thou 
doughted  ?  And  when  thei  weer  ones  enterd  into  the  boot  the  wind 
ceased.  Thei  that  weer  in  the  boot  cam  and  bowed  down  vnto  him  and 
said,  Suerli  thou  art  the  sonn  of  god. 

In  a  marginal  note  Cheke  explains  the  meaning  of 
phantasm  as  "  that  which  appeared  to  the  eies  to  be  sum- 
thing  and  is  nothing  in  deed."  Several  of  the  notes  and 
explanations  are  of  interest,  but  the  boldness  of  the  voca- 
bulary is  the  characteristic  which  most  impresses  the  reader's 
mind.  A  proverb  is  a  biword,  apostle  is  2ifrosent,  regenera- 
tion is  gai?ibirth,  the  lunatic  are  7?ioond,  the  demoniacs 
spirited ;  Matthew  is  said  to  be  called  while  sitting  at  the 
iolbooth ;  the  natural  man  is  soulisch ;  phylacteries  and 
borders  (Matt,  xxiii.  5)  3xq  gardes  and  weltes ;  the  magi  are 
wiseards ;  the  last  of  the  signs  of  Messiah  (Matt.  xi.  5)  is 
that  "  the  beggars  be  gospeldy 

The  abrupt  conclusion  of  this  interesting  fragment  is  no 
inapt  symbol  of  the  fortunes  of  the  writer  and  of  the  results 
of  Edward's  premature  and  sudden  death.  One  of  the  first 
acts  of  Mary's  reign  was  the  prohibition  of  the  pubHc  reading 
of  Scripture.  A  second  proclamation,  in  June,  1555,  de- 
nounced the  writings  of  the  Continental  reformers  and  of 
many  noble  Englishmen,  among  whom  were  Tyndale,  Frith, 
Cranmer,  and  Coverdale.  Three  years  later  a  more  stringent 
injunction  was  issued,  requiring  that  wicked  and  seditious 
books  should  be  given  up  on  pain  of  death.  Though  the 
English  Bible  is  not  expressly  mentioned  in  these  two  pro- 
clamations, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  under  their  sanction 
many  copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  destroyed.  Two  men 
whose  names  are  nobly  connected  with  the  history  of  the 


TJte  Exiles  in  Geneva.  153 

English  Bible,  John  Rogers  and  Thomas  Cranmer,  were 
committed  to  the  flames ;  Coverdale  narrowly  escaped  with 
his  life,  and  went  into  exile.  We  cannot  wonder  that  during 
the  five  years  of  Mary's  reign  no  Bible  or  Testament  was 
published  on  English  ground.  Still  the  persecution  was  not 
without  its  influence  for  good.  As  "the  blood  of  the 
martyrs"  became  emphatically  in  England  the  seed  of  a 
reformed  and  purified  Church,  the  policy  which  drove 
learned  and  good  men  into  banishment  from  their  country 
was  destined  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  more  accurate  and 
worthy  representation  of  Scripture  truth. 

With  the  foreigners  who,  compelled  by  a  royal  proclama- 
tion, left  England  without  delay,  many  learned  Englishmen 
sought  refuge  from  the  troubles  of  their  country  in  flight. 
Some  betook  themselves  to  Strasburg,  some  to  Frankfort-on- 
the-Maine,  some  to  Zurich,  and  other  towns  in  Germany 
and  Switzerland.  Our  concern  is  with  a  band  of  exiles  who 
left  Frankfort  in  1555  in  consequence  of  dissensions  re- 
specting matters  of  ritual,  and  removed  to  Geneva,  where 
Calvin,  who  had  little  liking  for  the  English  Prayer  Book, 
exercised  unbounded  influence.  Among  these  exiles  were 
John  Knox,  the  celebrated  Scottish  reformer ;  Miles  Cover- 
dale  ;  Thomas  Cole,  said  to  have  been  Dean  of  Salisbury ; 
Christopher  Goodman,  at  one  time  a  divinity-professor  at 
Oxford,  author  of  a  violent  treatise  against  "  the  monstrous 
regiment "  (government)  of  women,  afterwards  a  leader  of 
the  extreme  Nonconformists;  John  Pullain,  noted  for  his 
poetical  powers,  a  translator  of  Ecclesiastes,  Esther,  and 
other  books  of  Scripture  into  EngHsh  verse ;  Anthony  Gilby, 
Thomas  Sampson,  and  William  Whittingham.  It  is  mainly 
with  the  three  last  named  that  we  are  here  concerned. 
Gilby  was  a  Cambridge  scholar,  Sampson  and  Whittingham 
were  educated  at  Oxford.  Of  Gilby  we  know  comparatively 
little,  except  that  he  was  educated  at  Christ's  College,  Cam- 


154  The  English  Bible. 

bridge  ;  that  the  troubles  of  Frankfort  drove  him  to  Geneva ; 
and  that  on  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, and  received  the  vicarage  of  Ashby-de-la-Zouch.  He 
died  in  1584.  Sampson  was  Dean  of  Chichester  in  Edward's 
reign.  On  the  accession  of  Mary  he  fled  to  Strasburg,  and 
afterwards  joined  the  band  of  exiles  at  Geneva.  In  1561 
he  became  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  but  was  shortly 
afterwards  deprived  of  his  office  for  nonconformity.  William 
Whittingham  was  born  near  Durham  in  1524  ;  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three  he  was  made  one  of  the  senior  students  of 
Christ  Church,  Oxford.  When  Knox  left  Geneva,  in  1559, 
Whittingham  was  ordained  his  successor  in  the  pastorate  of 
the  English  church.  In  1560  he  returned  to  England,  and 
three  years  later  was  made  Dean  of  Durham.  Whittingham 
was  one  of  the  translators  of  that  metrical  version  of  the 
Psalms  which  is  known  by  the  names  of  Sternhold  and 
Hopkins,  the  largest  contributors  to  the  collection.  He 
died  in  1579. 

In  1557  a  duodecimo  volume  was  published  at  Geneva, 
entitled  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  ovr  Lord  lesus  Christ. 
Conferred  diligently  with  the  Greke,  and  best  approued 
translations.  With  the  arguments,  as  wel  before  the  chapters, 
as  for  euery  Boke  and  Epistle ;  also  diuersities  of  readings, 
and  moste  profitable  annotations  of  all  harde  places ;  wher- 
unto  is  added  a  copious  Table.  At  Geneva  Printed  by 
Conrad  Badius.  m.d.  lvii."^  The  title-page  also  contains  a 
curious  woodcut,  representing  Time  raising  Truth  out  of  her 
grave,  with  the  motto,  "  God  by  Tyme  restoreth  Trvth,  and 
maketh  her  victoriovs."  After  the  table  of  contents  is  given 
"  The  Epistle,  declaring  that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law,  by 
John  Calvin."  This  is  followed  by  an  address  to  the  reader, 
giving  some  account  of  the  work.     The  writer  uses  the  first 

^  A  very  convenient  reprint  of  this  Testament  has  been  pubhshed  by 
Messrs.  Ba^ster. 


The  Geneva  New  Testament.  155 

person  singular  throughout,  and  clearly  shows  that  the  trans- 
lation is  from  his  own  hand.  After  describing  the  various 
kinds  of  men  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  speaking  espe- 
cially of  the  "  simple  lambs  which  partly  are  already  in  the 
fold  of  Christ,  and  partly  wandering,  through  ignorance,"  he 
says,  "  To  this  kind  of  people  in  this  translation  I  chiefly 
had  respect,  as  moved  with  zeal,  counselled  by  the  godly, 
and  drawn  by  occasion  both  of  the  place  where  God  hath 
appointed  us  to  dwell,  and  also  of  the  store  of  heavenly 
learning  and  judgment  which  so  aboundeth  in  this  city  of 
Geneva,  that  justly  it  may  be  called  the  pattern  and  mirror 
of  true  religion  and  godliness."  To  these,  then,  he  will 
"  render  a  reason  "  of  his  work.  The  text  has  been  "  diH- 
gently  revised  by  the  most  approved  Greek  examples  and 
conference  of  translations  in  other  tongues,  as  the  learned 
may  easily  judge,  both  by  the  faithful  rendering  of  the  sen- 
tence, and  also  by  the  propriety  of  the  words  and  perspicuity 
of  the  phrase."  For  the  profit  of  the  reader  the  text  has 
been  "  divided  into  verses  and  sections,  accordmg  to  the 
best  editions  in  other  languages."  Hard  Hebrew  and  Greek 
phrases  he  has  sometimes  "interpreted"  by  an  idiomatic 
translation,  sometimes  made  less  obscure  by  adding  a  word; 
setting  it,  however,  "in  such  letters  as  may  easily  be  dis- 
cerned from  the  common  text."  In  the  annotations,  he 
says,  "To  my  knowledge  I  have  omitted  nothing  unex- 
pounded  whereby  he  that  is  anything  exercised  in  the 
Scriptures  of  God  might  justly  complain  of  hardness  :  and 
also  ...  I  have  explicate  all  such  places  by  the  best  learned 
interpreters  as  either  were  falsely  expounded  by  some  or  else 
absurdly  apphed  by  others  .  .  .  Some  time,  when  the  place 
is  not  greatly  hard,  I  have  noted  with  this  mark  (")  that 
which  may  serve  to  the  edification  of  the  reader.  Moreover, 
the  diverse  readings,  according  to  diverse  Greek  copies, 
which  stand  but  in  one  word,  may  be  known  by  this  note  ("), 


156  The  E7iglish  Bible. 

and  if  the  books  do  alter  in  the  sentence,  then  is  it  noted 
with  this  star  (*),  as  the  quotations  are." 

Though  no  name  is  given,  we  can  have  little  doubt  that 
the  work  was  executed  by  Whittingham.  This  might  be 
probable  in  itself  on  account  of  the  position  held  by  Whit- 
tingham among  his  countrymen  in  Geneva,  and  from  the 
association  of  Calvin  (whose  sister  Whittingham  had  married) 
with  this  translation ;  but,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  there 
are  other  indications  which  point  to  the  same  conclusion. 
Apart  from  the  translation  and  the  notes,  which  are  con- 
sidered below,  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  book  are  the 
use  of  Roman  type  (additions  and  explanatory  words  being 
printed  in  italics)  and  the  novel  arrangement  of  the  text. 
Our  modern  verses  are  here  seen  for  the  first  time  in  an 
English  Bible.  In  the  Old  Testament  the  division  into 
short  verses  was  ready  to  hand  in  the  Hebrew  Bible ; 
through  Pagninus  (1528)  this  division  became  familiar  to 
readers  of  Latin.  In  the  New  Testament  there  was  no 
precedent  of  the  kind.  From  the  earliest  times,  however, 
the  text  had  been  broken  up  into  paragraphs  of  various 
lengths,  and  Pagninus,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity,  introduced 
into  the  New  Testament  verses  similar  to  those  now  in  use, 
but  of  greater  length.  R.  Stephens,  when  preparing  for  one 
of  his  editions  of  the  Greek  Testament,  resolved  on  an 
arrangement  more  nearly  resembling  that  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. He  worked  out  his  plan  on  a  journey  from  Paris  to 
Lyons,  and  the  Greek  Testament  published  in  155 1  in  this 
respect  resembles  our  present  Bibles.  For  the  Apocryphal 
books  this  work  had  been  accompHshed  a  few  years  earlier 
by  the  same  hand.  The  complete  system  of  verses  first  met 
the  eye  of  English  readers  in  the  Bible  of  1560,  of  which 
we  have  now  to  speak. 

Three  years  after  the  publication  of  the  Genevan  Testa- 
ment an  edition  of  the  whole  Bible  in  English  was  published 


The  Geneva  Bible.  157 

in  the  same  city  :  "  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scriptures  conteyned 
in  the  Olde  and  Newe  Testament.  Translated  according  to 
the  Ebrue  and  Greke,  and  conferred  with  the  best  trans- 
lations in  diners  languages.  With  moste  profitable  annota- 
tions vpon  all  the  harde  places,  and  other  thinges  of  great 
importance,  as  may  appeare  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Reader." 
On  this  title-page,  also,  is  a  woodcut,  representing  the 
passage  through  the  Red  Sea.  The  book  is  a  quarto  of 
about  600  pages,  printed  (like  the  Testament  of  1557)  in 
Roman  and  italic  types,  and  furnished  with  "  arguments," 
marginal  references,  headings  of  chapters,  and  explanatory 
notes.  This  is  the  first  edition  of  the  celebrated  Genevan 
version,  of  which  more  than  130  editions  were  published, 
and  which  retained  its  popularity  with  the  English  public 
for  nearly  a  hundred  years. 

The  book  is  introduced  by  an  address  :  *'  To  our  Beloved 
in  the  Eord  the  Brethren  of  England,  Scotland,  Ireland, 
etc."  After  pointing  out  that  the  former  translations  required 
greatly  to  be  reformed,  the  translators  go  on  to  say,  "  Not 
that  we  vindicate  anything  to  ourselves  above  the  least  of 
our  brethren  (for  God  knoweth  with  what  fear  and  trembHng 
we  have  been  for  the  space  of  two  years  and  more,  day  and 
night,  occupied  herein),  but  being  earnestly  desired,  and  by 
divers,  whose  learning  and  godliness  we  reverence,  exhorted, 
and  also  encouraged  by  the  ready  wills  of  such  whose  hearts 
God  likewise  touched,  not  to  spare  any  charges  for  the 
furtherance  of  such  a  benefit  and  savour  of  God  toward  his 
Church  (though  the  time  then  was  most  dangerous  and  the 
persecution  sharp  and  furious),  we  submitted  ourselves  at 
length  to  their  godly  judgments,  and  seeing  the  great  oppor- 
tunity and  occasions  which  God  presented  unto  us  in  his 
Church  by  reason  of  so  many  godly  and  learned  men,  and  such 
diversities  of  translations  in  divers  tongues,  we  undertook 
this  jgreat  and  wonderful  work  (with  all  reverence,  as  in  the 


158  The  English  Bible. 

presence  of  God,  as  entreating  the  word  of  God,  whereunto 
we  think  ourselves  insufficient),  which  now  God,  according 
to  his  Divine  providence  and  mercy,  hath  directed  to  a  most 
prosperous  end.  And  this  we  may  with  good  conscience 
protest,  that  we  have  in  every  point  and  word,  according  to 
the  measure  of  that  knowledge  which  it  pleased  Almighty 
God  to  give  us,  faithfully  rendered  the  text,  and  in  all  hard 
places  most  sincerely  expounded  the  same.  For  God  is  our 
witness  that  we  have  by  all  means  endeavoured  to  set  forth 
the  purity  of  the  word  and  right  sense  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
for  the  edifying  of  the  brethren  in  faith  and  charity." 

One  distinction  between  the  former  publication  and  the 
present  is  obvious.  Whereas  that  was  clearly  from  one  hand, 
this  openly  professes  to  be  the  result  of  combined  labours. 
Anthony  a  Wood  tells  us  that  Coverdale,  Goodman,  Gilby, 
Sampson,  Cole,  and  Whittingham  "  undertook  the  translation 
of  the  English  Bible,  but  before  the  greater  part  was  finished, 
Queen  Mary  died.  So  that,  the  Protestant  religion  appear- 
ing again  in  England,  the  exiled  divines  left  Frankfort  and 
Geneva,  and  returned  into  England.  Howbeit,  Whitting- 
ham, with  one  or  two  more,  being  resolved  to  go  through  with 
the  work,  did  tarry  at  Geneva  a  year  and  a  half  after  Queen 
Elizabeth  came  to  the  crown."  The  "two  or  three"  who 
remained  with  Whittingham  seem  to  have  been  Gilby  and 
Sampson.  Knox,  Goodman,  Cole,  Pullain,  Bodleigh,  and 
Coverdale  returned  to  England  in  1559.  Coverdale,  indeed, 
seems  to  have  spent  but  a  short  time  in  Geneva ;  but  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  believe  that  the  veteran  translator  had  no 
share  in  this  undertaking.  Whittingham,  however,  was  in 
all  probability  foremost  in  the  company  of  translators ;  and 
the  prominent  position  which  he  holds  in  this  work,  together 
with  the  intimate  relation  between  the  translations  of  1557 
and  1560,  warrants  the  beHef  that  the  earlier  was  mainly 
from  his  hand. 


Comp avis 071  with  the  Geneva  Testament.       159 

The  relation  between  the  "  Genevan  Testament"  (1557) 
and  the  Testament  of  the  "  Genevan  Bible''  (1560)  requires 
careful  attention,  as  some  have  represented  them  to  be  prac- 
tically the  same  version,  whilst  others  have  considered  them 
altogether  different  works.  It  may  easily  be  shown  that  the 
truth  lies  between  these  extremes.  We  will,  as  before,  first 
examine  a  single  chapter  throughout,  and  then  notice  ren- 
derings of  particular  interest.  Luke  xvi.  is  a  chapter  of 
moderate  length,  and  of  rather  more  than  average  difficulty. 
The  principal  English  versions  available  for  the  use  of  the 
exiles  of  Geneva  were  Tyndale's,  Coverdale's,  Matthew's, 
and  the  Great  Bible.  In  this  chapter,  Matthew  (1551)  agrees 
word  for  word  with  Tyndale ;  the  Great  Bible  departs  from 
Tyndale  in  about  thirty  renderings ;  Coverdale  varies  much 
more  frequently — in  ninety  or  a  hundred  places.  The 
Genevan  Testament  deserts  Tyndale  in  favour  of  Coverdale 
about  twelve  times  only ;  hence  it  is  evident  that,  though 
Coverdale's  translation  was  used,  it  was  not  the  basis  of  the 
new  version.  The  Great  Bible  in  this  chapter  introduces 
about  seventeen  new  renderings,  mostly  of  very  little  con- 
sequence, and  in  verse  21a  clause  is  added.  The  Genevan 
Testament  adopts  not  more  than  three  or  four  of  these 
changes.  It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  it  is  on  Tyndale's 
Testament  that  the  new  version  is  founded.  From  Tyndale 
the  translator  departs  rather  more  than  forty  times  ;  in  thirty 
of  these  instances  the  rendering  is  new,  and  in  eight  of  the 
thirty  this  new  rendering  obtained  a  place  in  our  Authorised 
Version.  The  Genevan  Bible,  again,  varies  from  the  Testa- 
ment of  1557  in  nearly  forty  places;  in  thirty-three  of  these 
the  rendering  is  new,  and  in  sixteen  the  alteration  still 
maintains  its  ground.  Hence,  so  far  as  this  chapter  is 
concerned,  we  may  say  that  the  Testament  is  a  careful 
revision  of  Tyndale,  and  that  the  Bible  is  again  a  careful 
revision  of  the  Testament.    As  an  example  of  extensive 


i6o  The  Ejiglish  Bible. 

alteration   may  be   given   the   introduction  to  the  Gospel 

of  St.  Luke  :— 

ST.    LUKE   I.    I — 4. 

1  For  asmuch  as  many  haue  taken  in  hand  to  write  the  historic  of 
those  thynges,  wherof  we  are  fully  certified, 

2  Euen  as  they  declared  them  vnto  vs,  which  from  the  begynnyng 
saw  them  their  selues,  and  were  ministers  at  the  doyng  {margm :  or,  of 
the  thing)  : 

3  It  seemed  good  also  to  me  (moste  noble  Theophilus)  as  sone  as  I 
had  learned  perfectly  all  thynges  from  the  beginnyng,  to  wryte  vnto  thee 
therof  from  poynt  to  poynt : 

4  That  thou  mightest  acknowlage  the  trueth  of  those  thinges  where 
in  thou  hast  bene  broght  vp. 

In  these  four  verses  several  renderings  are  introduced 
for  the  first  time,  as  write  the  history^  whereof  we  are  fully 
certified,  it  seemed  good,  learned  perfectly,  thereof  from  point 
to  point,  most  noble.  The  Bible  of  1560  differs  in  several 
places: — set  forth  the  story  {y^x.  1),  persuaded  {iov  certified), 
as  they  have  delivered  (ver.  2),  ministers  of  the  word,  in- 
structed (ver.  4).  The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  that 
several  of  these  renderings  are  found  in  our  Authorised 
Version.  Taking  another  chapter,  at  hazard,  we  find  that 
in  Matt,  xviii.  8,  the  Testament  of  1557  has  "  cause  thee  to 
offend  "  for  the  not  very  plain  rendering  "  offend  thee ; "  in 
ver.  17,  "refuse  to  hear/'  instead  of  "hear  not;"  in  ver.  29, 
"  fell  down  at  his  feet "  takes  the  place  of  "  fell  down  ; " 
in  ver.  2,  where  earlier  versions  have  "  child,"  the  Genevan 
have  "young"  or  "little  child."  These  changes,  selected 
from  those  found  in  a  single  chapter,  show  the  care  of  the 
translator,  and  it  is  very  easy  to  light  upon  examples  of  a 
similar  kind.  In  Matt.  xx.  23,  the  words  in  italics  which 
are  found  in  our  Authorised  Version  are  due  to  the  Genevan 
Testament;  in  Matt,  xxviii.  14,  "come  before  the  governor" 
is  a  more  exact  translation  than  "come  to  the  governor's 
ears;"  in  Mark  xiv.   72   earlier  versions  have  "began  to 


Examples.  i6i 

weep,"  but  the  Genevan,  more  correctly,  "weighing  this 
with  himself,  he  wept."  In  James  i.  17,  for  the  older  render- 
ing, "neither  is  he  changed  into  darkness,"  we  here  read 
"  neither  shadowing  by  turning."  It  is  in  the  Genevan 
Bible  that  we  first  find  the  rendering  of  John  iii.  3  which  is 
now  most  familiar,  "  Except  a  man  be  born  again."  In 
most  of  these  instances  we  trace  Beza's  hand.  His  influ- 
ence is  usually  for  good  in  points  of  interpretation ;  as  a 
critic,  however,  deciding  on  the  Greek  text  to  be  adopted  in 
any  passage,  he  is  often  rash  and  misleading.  We  owe  to 
him  the  true  reading  in  Rom.  xii.  11,  "  serving  the  Lord," 
where  Tyndale  and  others  have  "  apply  yourselves  to  the 
time."  On  the  other  hand,  in  Mark  xvi.  2,  as  the  ordinary 
Greek  text  signified  "  the  sun  having  risen,"  and  so  appeared 
to  conflict  with  the  narrative  of  the  other  Gospels,  Beza 
adopted  another  reading,  which  was  very  slenderly  sup- 
ported, and  translated  the  words  "  while  the  sun  was  rising." 
Not  satisfied  with  this,  however,  he  hazarded  a  conjecture 
that  the  words  "  not  yet "  might  have  accidentally  fallen  out 
of  the  text.  The  Genevan  translators  actually  insert  this 
conjecture  in  their  margin  as  an  alternative  translation,  and 
in  the  text  read  "  when  the  sun  was  yet  rising."  In  Matt.  i. 
II,  the  clauses  which  we  now  find  in  the  margin  of  our 
Bibles  were  introduced  into  the  text  of  the  Genevan  ver- 
sions, again  on  very  insufficient  evidence.  There  are  other 
blots  of  the  same  character,  but  on  the  whole  Beza's  influ- 
ence tended  greatly  to  the  improvement  of  the  work. 
Mistakes  were  removed  which  had  disfigured  all  preceding 
versions.  Thus  in  Acts  xxvii.  9,  the  earlier  versions  had 
followed  Tyndale  (and  Erasmus)  in  the  translation  "  be- 
cause we  had  over-long  fasted."  The  Genevan  Testament 
was  the  first  to  give  what  is  now  generally  acknowledged  to 
be  the  true  translation,  "because  the  time  of  the  fast  was 
now  passed ; "  the  meaning  being  made  still  clearer  by  the 

L 


1 62  The  English  Bible. 

following  note,  "This  fast  the  Jews  observed  about  the  month 
of  October,  in  the  Feast  of  their  expiation  (Lev.  32.d^).  So 
that  Paul  thought  it  better  to  winter  there,  than  to  sail  in 
the  deep  of  winter  which  was  at  hand."  In  the  13th  verse 
of  the  same  chapter,  Tyndale,  Coverdale,  and  the  Great 
Bible  have  the  rendering  "  loosed  unto  Asson "  ( Assos), 
supposing  the  Greek  word  asson  to  be  a  proper  name ;  the 
Genevan  translation  is  the  first  to  give  the  true  meaning, 
"nearer." 

The  notes  in  the  Genevan  version  have  already  been 
referred  to.  They  are  not  derived  from  Matthew's  Bible, 
but  were  prepared  by  the  Genevan  translators  themselves, 
and  prepared  with  much  care.  As  may  be  supposed,  the 
comments  belong  to  the  school  of  theology  which  we  asso- 
ciate with  the  names  of  Calvin  and  Beza,  but  a  very  large 
proportion  of  them  contain  nothing  to  offend  readers  of 
other  schools.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  for  instance, 
the  Genevan  Testament  contains  about  220  explanatory 
notes  (not  including  alternative  renderings),  the  Bible  of 
1560  about  250,  but  not  more  than  six  or  seven  can  be 
called  "  Calvinistic."  The  condensed  commentary  which 
the  notes  contain  is  usually  good  and  useful,  supplying  his- 
torical and  geographical  information,  clearing  up  obscure 
texts,  but  most  frequently  containing  pithy  observations  on 
lessons  that  are  taught  by  a  narrative,  or  inferences  which 
may  be  drawn  from  a  text.  In  the  Bible  of  1560  most  of 
the  notes  of  the  earlier  Testament  were  retained,  and  several 
additions  made ;  the  commentary  was  also  extended  to  the 
whole  Bible,  with  the  exception  of  the  Apocryphal  Books,^ 

1  That  is,  Lev.  xxxii.  (a  mistake  for  xxiii.)  27 — 29.  Though  the 
text  is  divided  into  verses,  tlie  marginal  references  of  the  Genevan 
Testament  follow  the  old  paragraphs,  marked  by  letters  of  the  alphabet, 

'  It  is  sometimes  stated  that  the  Apocryphal  Books  are  omitted  in 
the  Genevan  Bible  \  but  this  is  a  mistake. 


Notes.  163 

in  which  the  notes  are  scanty.  The  matter  of  the  annota- 
tions was  derived  from  Beza,  Calvin,  and  others.  Our 
limits  will  not  permit  us  to  give  many  examples ;  the  follow- 
ing will  serve  as  a  specimen : — 

Exod.  i.  19.  Their  disobedience  herein  was  lawful,  but  their  dis- 
sembling evil. 

2  Chron.  xv.  16.  Herein  he  showed  that  he  lacked  zeal,  for  she 
ought  to  have  died,  both  by  the  covenant,  as  verse  13,  and  by  the  law 
of  God  ;  but  he  gave  place  to  foolish  pity,  and  would  also  seem  after  a 
sort  to  satisfy  the  law. 

Ps.  xlvi.,  title.  (Alamoth),  which  was  either  a  musical  instrument 
or  a  solemn  tune,  unto  the  which  this  psalm  was  sung. 

Ps.  cxix.  25  (cleaveth  unto  the  dust).  That  is,  it  is  almost  brought 
to  the  grave,  and  without  Thy  word  I  cannot  live. 

I  Sam.  iii.  4.  Josephus  writeth  that  Samuel  was  twelve  years  old 
when  the  Lord  appeared  to  him. 

Matt.  XX.  23.  God  my  Father  hath  not  given  me  charge  to  bestow 
offices  of  honour  here. 

John  vi.  28  (the  works  of  God).     Such  as  be  acceptable  unto  God. 

Ephes.  v.  16  (Redeeming  the  time).  Selling  all  worldly  pleasures  to 
buy  time. 

Heb.  xi.  4  (by  the  which).     Meaning /z///5,i 

Occasionally  (especially  in  the  Acts)  the  note  contains 
some  considerable  additions  to  the  text,  similar  to  those  so 
freely  admitted  into  the  Great  Bible.  Thus  in  Acts  xiv.  7, 
we  read  that  others  add  "  insomuch  that  all  the  people 
were  moved  at  the  doctrine.  So  both  Paul  and  Barnabas 
remained  at  Lystra."  This  reading  Beza  mentions  in  his 
note  as  contained  in  his  own  most  ancient  MS. — a  MS. 
of  the  sixth  century  (Codex  Bezce),  now  preserved  in  the 
Library  of  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  remarkable 
for  such  additions  to  the  ordinary  text. 

1  Professor  Plumptre  {Diet  of  Bible,   III.,    1674)  notices  another 
point  of  interest — that  the  Genevan  Version  (in   both  forms)   "  omits 
the  name  of  St.  Paul  from  the  title  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  and, 
in  a  short  Preface,  leaves  the  authorship  an  open  question." 
L  2 


164  The  English  Bible. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  Old  Testament.     If  in  the  pas- 
sages which  we  have  before  taken  as  a  test  we  compare  the 
Genevan  Bible  with  the  translations  of  Tyndale  and  Cover- 
dale,  and  with  the  Great  Bible,  we  shall  find  that  consider- 
able variation  exists,  but  that  the  Genevan  translation  is 
nearer  to  the  Great  Bible  than  to  any  other.     In  Numb, 
xxiv.  15 — 24,  the  Genevan  Bible  differs  from  Tyndale  about 
forty-six  times,  from  the  Great  Bible  about  thirty-five.     In 
Isa.  xii.  the  variation  from  the  Great  Bible  is  about  the  same 
in  amount,  four  changes  in  each  verse ;  in  several  of  these 
the  version  returns  to  Tyndale.     In  Ps.  xc.  the  Great  Bible 
is  deserted  in  more  than  eighty  instances;   in  two  out  of 
every  three  the  change  is  an  improvement,  and  more  than 
fifty  of  the  changes  hold  their   ground   in  the  Authorised 
Version.     As  will  be  seen  hereafter,  the  Authorised  Version 
has  been  very  largely  influenced  by   the  Genevan  Bible, 
which,  in  that  part  of  the  Old  Testament  not  translated  by 
Tyndale,  was  the  most  thorough  and  satisfactory  of  all  the 
earlier  versions.     The  rendering  of  some  words  in  Gen.  iii. 
7,  "  and  made  themselves  breeches,"  has  given  to  the  Gene- 
van translation  the  name  by  which  it  is  popularly  known, 
the  "  Breeches  Bible."     One  peculiarity  strikes  the  reader 
at  once,  and  points  to  a  writer  much  followed  by  the  trans- 
lators.   This  is  the  orthography  of  the  Hebrew  proper  names, 
which  not  only  frequently  appear  in  a  dress  novel  to  the 
English  reader,  but  also  have  an  accent  to  mark  the  original 
pronunciation.    Thus  we  find  laakob,  Izhak,  Zidkiah,  Habel, 
Rahel,   Heuah  (Eve).     This  pecuHarity  was  derived  from 
Pagninus,  whose  translation,  remarkable  for  literal  fidelity, 
had  very  great  weight  with  the  Genevan  translators.     Dr. 
Westcott  examines  minutely  the  variation  of  this  version 
from  the  Great  Bible  in  several  portions  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  proves  that  most  of  the  changes  were  made  in  the 
interests  of  literalness  of  translation;  that  many  are  traceable 


Peculiarities  of  Language.  165 

to  Pagninus,  some  to  the  Latin  versions  of  Miinster  and  Leo 
Juda,  and  to  the  French  Bible ;  and  that  in  the  Apocrj^phal 
Books  the  Genevan  version  was  much  influenced  by  a  French 
translation  by  Beza.  The  Apocryphal  Books  in  this  version 
require  special  notice.  In  the  earlier  English  Bibles  the 
translation  of  these  books  was  based  on  the  Latin,  either 
directly  or  through  the  intervention  of  other  versions.  Thus 
in  Tobit  i.,  ii.,  iii.,  the  narrative  was  given  in  the  third  per- 
son, as  in  the  Latin  Bible;  in  the  Greek  text  the  first  person 
is  mainly  used,  and  accordingly  we  find  this  person  in 
the  Authorised  Version.  This  important  change  of  text 
was  made  by  the  Genevan  translators.  The  Prayer  of 
Manasses,  given  by  Rogers  and  in  the  Great  Bible,  is  here 
omitted. 

The  language  of  the  Genevan  version  does  not  present 
much  difficulty  to  the  reader  of  the  present  day.  Sometimes 
we  find  words  which  have  a  more  modern  look  than  those 
of  the  Authorised  Version,  as  excommunicate,  amity',  hurly- 
burly,  surgeon,  empire;  several  other  words  are  strange,  or 
are  used  in  a  peculiar  sense,  as  quadrijt  (Mark  xii.  42), 
chapmaii,  improve  (reprove),  frail  (basket),  gre?tne  (gin), 
comviodity  (Rom.  xiii.  16),  grieces  (Acts  xxi.  40).  On  this 
subject  the  reader  may  find  much  interesting  information 
in  a  little  book  entitled  English  ^^/r^r^^ (Cambridge,  1862). 

To  the  great  and  deserved  popularity  of  the  Genevan 
Bible  we  have  already  referred.  The  times  were  favourable 
to  its  success.  No  one  can  forget  the  incident  which 
occurred  on  the  day  of  Elizabeth's  coronation,  when  the 
City  of  London  presented  the  young  Queen  with  an  EngUsh 
Bible.  Elizabeth  thanked  the  City  for  their  "  goodly  gift," 
kissed  the  sacred  book,  and  promised  she  would  "  diligently 
read  therein."  The  people  saw  in  this  the  symbol  of  the 
restoration  of  the  Scriptures  to  their  rightful  place  of  autho- 
rity ;  and  though  many  expectations  were  disappointed,  yet 


1 66  The  English  Bible, 

from  that  day  the  English  Bible  has  been  free.  In  1559 
Elizabeth  repeated  the  injunctions  issued  by  Edward  VL, 
that  every  parish  should  provide  "  one  whole  Bible  of  the 
largest  volume  in  English,"  together  with  the  paraphrases  of 
Erasmus.  It  was  ordered  that  inquiry  should  be  made 
whether  any  "  parsons,  vicars,  or  curates  did  discourage  any 
person  from  reading  any  part  of  the  Bible." 

The  expense  of  the  publication  of  the  Genevan  Bible 
was  borne  by  the  English  community  in  that  city.  In  1561 
Bodley  obtained  from  the  Queen  a  patent  for  the  exclusive 
printing  of  this  version  during  seven  years.  In  the  same 
year  he  published  an  edition  in  folio  at  Geneva.  In  the 
couise  of  Elizabeth's  reign  as  many  as  seventy  editions  of 
the  Genevan  Bible  and  thirty  of  the  New  Testament,  in  all 
sizes  from  folio  to  48mo,  some  in  black  letter  and  others  in 
the  ordinary  character,  were  issued  from  the  press.  A  few 
of  these  were  printed  abroad,  but  the  large  majority  at  home. 
In  1578  were  added,  by  Robert  F.  Kerry,  "two  right  pro- 
fitable and  fruitful  concordances,  or  large  and  ample  Tables 
alphabetical."  This  two-fold  Index,  explanatory  of  difficult 
words  and  proper  names,  and  also  serving  as  a  guide  to 
important  passages,  was  often  bound  up  with  the  later 
editions,  to  the  great  advantage  of  the  readers.  In  1579 
appeared  the  first  Bible  printed  in  Scotland,  a  folio  volume, 
"printed  by  Alexander  Arbuthnot,  Printer  to  the  King's 
Majestie." 

Amongst  the  editions  of  the  Genevan  Testament  referred 
to  above  are  included  those  of  a  revision  by  Lawrence 
Tomson,  first  pubHshed  in  1576.  Tomson  was  secretary  to 
Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  then  Secretary  of  State ;  an  inscrip- 
tion on  a  marble  tablet  in  Chertsey  Church  celebrates  his 
knowledge  of  twelve  languages  and  the  excellence  of  his 
character.  On  the  very  title-page  of  his  Testament  Tomson 
professes  his  obligations  to,  or  rather  dependence  upon, 


Tomsofis  Revision.  167 

Beza,  whose  annotations  he  reproduces  to  a  very  consider- 
able extent.  The  text,  however,  is  not  much  altered,  and 
the  chief  characteristic  of  this  edition  is  the  large  extent  of 
the  commentary  in  the  margin.  This  revision  passed 
through  many  editions,  and  was  not  unfrequently  substituted 
for  the  Testament  of  1560  in  issues  of  the  Genevan  Bible. 


'  CHAPTER    XII. 

THE     bishops'     bible. 

D-lNG  the  early  part  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  English  Scrip- 
tes  were  circulated  mainly  in  two  versions.  Four  editions, 
/(deed,  of  Tyndale's  Testament  are  assigned  to  the  years 
i56i,  1566,  1570,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Bibles  of 
I  Coverdale,  Taverner,  or  Matthew  were  reprinted  after  1553; 
hence  the  Great  Bible  and  the  Genevan  Bible,  the  versions 
associated  with  Archbishop  Cranmer  and  with  the  Puritan 
exiles,  were  left  in  possession  of  the  field.  The  former 
alone  had  any  authority  or  ecclesiastical  influence  on  its 
side,  but  the  latter  was  the  household  Bible  of  England. 
For  some  years  new  editions  of  Cranmer's  version  continued 
to  appear.  Eight  in  all  are  known  to  have  been  published 
in  this  reign — together,  it  is  said,  with  one  New  Testament 
of  the  same  version,  for  printing  which  without  license  the' 
printer,  Richard  Harrison,  was  fined  eight  shillings.  One 
of  these  Bibles,  printed  at  Rouen  in  1566,  at  the  cost 
of  R.  Carmarden,  is  especially  noted  as  a  fine  specimen  of 
typography. 

This  state  of  things  could  not  continue.  It  could  not 
be  expected  that  the  Genevan  version  (with  its  body  of 
notes,  which  reflected  the  views  of  one  particular  school 
of  theology,  and  which  were  not  always  guarded  in  expres- 
sion) would  receive  such  official  sanction  as  to  displace  the 
Great  Bible ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  manifest  supe- 
riority of  the  later  translation,  joined  with  its  great 
popularity,  made  it  impossible  to  restore  Cranmer's  Bible 


The  ^^ Bishops'  Bible''  Projected.  169 

to   its   former   position.     Matthew  Parker,  the   celebrated 
Archbishop   of  Canterbury,  consecrated  in   1559,  resolved 
on  undertaking  a  revised  translation,  upon  a  plan  similar  to 
that  which  Cranmer  had  tried  (though  without  success)  in 
1542.     Letters  collected  in  the  volume  of  the  Parker  corre- 
spondence, published  by  the  Parker  Society,  contain  much 
interesting  information  respecting  the  archbishop's  design. 
In    1566   he  writes  to  Sir  W.    Cecil,   stating   that   he   has 
"  distributed  the  Bible  in  parts  to  divers  men,"  and  express- 
ing a  hope  that  Cecil  will  undertake  the  revision  of  some 
"  one  epistle  of  St.  Paul,  or  Peter,  or  James."     As  early  as 
December,  1565,  we  find  a  letter  from  Parkhurst,  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  portion  which 
had  been  assigned  to  him — five  of  the  Apocryphal  books. 
About  the  same  time,  Geste,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  writes, 
returning   the  Book  of  Psalms  revised,   and  expressing  a 
hope  that  the  archbishop  will  excuse  his  "  rude  handling  of 
the  Psalms."     This  modest  description  of  his  work  is  not 
far  from  the  truth.     "  I  have  not  altered  the  translation,"  he 
says,  "  but  where  it  giveth  occasion  of  an  error,  as  in  the 
first  Psalm,  at  the  beginning,  I  turn  the  preterperfect  tense 
into  the  present  tense,  because  the  sense  is  too  hard  in  the 
preterperfect   tense.     Where   in   the   New  Testament   one 
piece  of  a  Psalm  is  reported,  I  translate  it  in  the  Psalm 
according  to  the  translation  thereof  in  the  New  Testament, 
for  the  avoiding  of  the  offence  that  may  rise  to  the  people 
upon  diverse  translations."     Sandys,  Bishop    of  Worcester 
(father  of  the  poet,  George  Sandys),  writes  on  the  6th  of 
February,   1566,   announcing    that   he   has    completed   his 
portion  (Kings  and  Chronicles) ;   he  adds  a  criticism  on 
the  Great  Bible — that  Miinster  had  been  followed  too  much 
by  the  translators.     Davies,  Bishop  of  St.   David's,  writes 
that  he  received  the  archbishop's  letter  of  December  6th, 
1565,  towards  the  close  of  the  following  February,  and  the 


I/O  The  English  Bible. 

"  piece  of  the  Bible  "  (Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  and  Samuel) 
a  week  later!  He  was  at  the  same  time  engaged,  with 
William  Salisbury  and  Thomas  Huatt,  upon  the  first  Welsh 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  which  was  published  in 
1567.  A  letter  from  Cox,  Bishop  of  Ely,  who  was  intrusted 
with  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  and  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  shows  a  just  appreciation  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
task  on  which  Parker  had  ventured.  "  I  would  wish,"  he 
adds,  "that  such  usual  words  that  we  English  people  be 
acquainted  with  might  still  remain  in  their  form  and  sound, 
so  far  forth  as  the  Hebrew  will  well  bear.  Inkhorn  terms 
to  be  avoided.  The  translation  of  the  verbs  in  the  Psalms 
to  be  used  uniformly  in  one  tense,  &c.  ;  and  if  ye  translate 
bonitas  or  misericordia,  to  use  it  likewise  in  all  places  of  the 
Psalms,  &c."  On  the  5th  of  October,  1568,  Parker  writes 
to  Cecil,  sending  at  the  same  time  a  copy  of  the  completed 
work,  to  be  presented  to  the  Queen.  "  Because  I  would," 
he  says  to  Cecil,  *'  you  knew  all,  I  here  send  you  a  note  to 
signify  who  first  travailed  in  the  divers  books,  though  after 
them  some  other  perusing  was  had ;  the  letters  of  their 
names  be  partly  affixed  in  the  end  of  their  books,  which 
I  thought  a  policy  to  shew  them,  to  make  them  more  dili- 
gent, as  answerable  for  their  doings.  I  have  remembered 
you  of  such  observations  as  my  first  letters  sent  to  them  (by 
your  advice)  did  signify."  The  rules  for  the.  revisers  here 
referred  to  were  the  following  : — "  First,  to  follow  the  com- 
mon English  translation  used  in  the  churches,  and  not  to 
recede  from  it  but  where  it  varieth  manifestly  from  the 
Hebrew  or  Greek  original.  Item,  to  use  sections  and 
divisions  in  the  text  as  Pagnine  in  his  translation  useth,  and 
for  the  verity  of  the  Hebrew  to  follow  the  said  Pagnine  and 
Munster  specially,  and  generally  others  learned  in  the  tongues. 
Item,  to  make  no  bitter  notes  upon  any  text,  or  yet  to  set 
down  any  determination  in  places  of  controversy.     Item,  to 


Allotment  of  the  Books,  171 

note  such  chapters  and  places  as  contain  matter  of  genea- 
logies, or  other  such  places  not  edifying,  with  some  strike  or 
note,  that  the  reader  may  eschew  them  in  his  public  reading. 
Item,  that  all  such  words  as  sound  in  the  old  translation  to 
any  offence  of  lightness  or  obscenity,  be  expressed  with  more 
convenient  terms  and  phrases." 

It  is  a  matter  of  greater  difficulty  to  determine  with 
exactness  who  were  the  revisers  of  the  several  books.  The 
letter  just  quoted  contains  a  list,  and  at  the  end  of  some 
books  in  the  new  Bible  are  initials  which  can  be  identified 
with  more  or  less  certainty.  Unfortunately  the  list  does  not 
always  agree  with  the  initials ;  but  the  discrepancy  may 
perhaps  be  explained  by  the  archbishop's  statement 
that  some  books  passed  through  the  hands  of  more  than 
one  reviser.  From  the  list  we  learn  that  Parker  himself 
undertook  Genesis,  Exodus,  the  first  two  Gospels,  and  the 
Pauline  Epistles,  with  the  exception  of  Romans  and 
I  Corinthians.  Leviticus  and  Numbers  were  revised  at 
Canterbury,  probably  by  A.  Pierson,  to  whom  Job  and 
Proverbs  also  seem  to  have  been  committed.  Deuteronomy 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Alley,  Bishop  of  Exeter.  At  the 
end  of  the  Psalter  are  the  initials  T.  B.,  supposed  to  indi- 
cate Thomas  Bacon,  a  prebend  of  Canterbury.  Ecclesiastes 
and  Canticles  fell  to  the  lot  of  A.  Perne,  Dean  of  Ely.  The 
earlier  Apocryphal  books  were  revised  by  Bishop  Barlow ; 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Lamentations  by  Home,  Bishop  of 
Winchester ;  Ezekiel  and  Daniel  by  Bentham,  Bishop  of 
lichfield  and  Coventry ;  the  Minor  Prophets  by  Grindal, 
Bishop  of  London.  The  third  and  fourth  Gospels  seem  to 
have  been  committed  to  Scambler,  Bishop  of  Peterborough ; 
I  Corinthians  to  Goodman,  Dean  of  Westminster;  the 
General  Epistles  and  the  Book  of  Revelation  to  Bullingham, 
Bishop  of  Lincoln.  The  remaining  books  have  already 
been  referred  to  in  connexion  with  their  respective  revisers. 


1/2  ,  TJie  English  Bible. 

The  above  particulars  are  not  free  from  doubt,  but  they  are 
probably  not  far  from  the  truth.  It  will  be  observed  that 
most  of  the  contributors  were  bishops,  hence  this  version  is 
commonly  known  as  the  Bishops'  Bible.  Archbishop 
Parker,  in  reserving  for  himself  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
books  of  Scripture,  some  of  these  remarkable  for  their 
difficulty,  was  no  doubt  sure  of  obtaining  efficient  co-opera- 
tion in  his  work.  The  memory  of  one  scholar,  Lawrence 
(possibly  the  Thomas  Lawrence  who  was  head-master  of 
Shrewsbury  School  from  1568  to  1583),  is  preserved  by 
Strype  in  his  account  of  this  version.  Lawrence,  who  was 
famed  for  his  knowledge  of  Greek,  sent  to  the  archbishop 
"  notes  of  errors  in  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament." 
These  notes  relate  to  nearly  thirty  passages  of  the  New 
Testament,  almost  all  taken  from  the  first  three  Gospels.  It 
has  been  generally  supposed  that  the  criticisms  refer  to  the 
earlier  translations,  and  hence  Lawrence  has  been  classed 
amongst  the  objectors  whose  complaints  led  to  the  scheme 
for  a  new  version.  Upon  examination,  however,  it  will 
be  found  that  the  renderings  on  which  he  comments  belong, 
without  exception,  to  the  first  edition  of  the  Bishops'  Bible 
itself;  some,  indeed,  are  not  found  in  any  other  version  at 
all.     These  criticisms  belong,  therefore,  to  a  later  date. 

The  preparation  of  this  version  appears  to  have  ex- 
tended over  three  or  four  years.  The  letter  accompanying 
the  splendid  copy  which  was  presented  to  the  Queen  bears 
date  October  5,  1568.  The  Bible  itself  had  no  dedication. 
On  the  title-page  are  no  other  words  than  "  The  Holie 
Bible,"  with  a  quotation  from  Rom.  i.  16.  In  the  centre 
is  a  portrait  of  the  Queen,  and  at  the  commencement  of 
Joshua  and  the  Psalter  are  introduced  portraits  of  the  Earl 
of  Leicester,  and  of  Cecil  (Lord  Burleigh).  Prefixed  to 
the  book  we  find  a  sum  of  the  whole  Scripture,  a  table  of 
genealogy,  a  table  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  with 


A   Second  Edition.  173 

tables  of  lessons  and  psalms,  an  almanac  and  calendar,  two 
prologues,  a  chronological  table,  and  the  table  of  contents  ; 
woodcuts,  maps,  and  other  tables  are  also  introduced  into 
the  volume.  The  second  of  these  prologues  is  Cranmer's, 
taken  from  the  Great  Bible.  The  first  is  written  by  Parker 
himself,  and  mainly  consists  of  a  defence  of  translations  of 
the  Bible,  and  an  earnest  exhortation  to  all  to  search  the 
Scriptures  :  the  design  and  plan  of  the  new  version  are 
also  briefly  explained.  There  is  also  a  preface  to  the  New 
Testament  from  the  archbishop's  hand.  At  the  end  of  the 
volume  is  the  name  of  the  printer,  John  Jugge,  and  the  last 
page  is  adorned  with  a  woodcut  representing  a  pelican  feed- 
ing her  young  with  her  blood,  and  a  Latin  couplet  on  this 
symbol  of  our  Saviour's  love. 

A  second  edition,  in  a  small  quarto  volume,  was  issued 
in  1569;  a  third  of  the  Bible  and  an  edition  of  the  New 
Testament  followed  in  1570,  157T.  In  1571  Convocation 
ordered  that  every  archbishop  and  bishop  should  have  a 
copy  of  this  version,  "  of  the  largest  volume,"  in  his  house, 
"  to  be  placed  in  the  hall  or  the  large  dining-room,  that  it 
might  be  useful  to  their  servants,  or  to  strangers  ; "  also  that 
a  copy  should  be  placed  in  every  cathedral,  and,  as  far  as 
possible,  in  every  church. 

The  criticisms  of  Lawrence  referred  to  above  may  have 
been  the  occasion  of  a  new  revision  of  the  work.  However 
this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  edition  published  in  1572 
contains  a  corrected  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  in 
which  nearly  all  the  improvements  suggested  by  Lawrence 
are  found  in  the  text.  In  all,  about  thirty  editions  of  this 
version  appear  to  have  been  published,  almost  all  of  these 
containing  the  whole  Bible.  There  are  some  singular  difler- 
ences  of  text  and  many  other  variations  in  the  several  edi- 
tions. The  edition  of  1572,  for  example,  contains  two 
translations  of  the  Psalter  in  parallel  columns — one  properly 


174  The  E7iglish  Bible. 

belonging  to  the  version,  the  other  taken  from  the  Great 
Bible.  Other  editions — those  of  1575,  1595,  for  instance — 
contain  only  the  latter  version  of  the  Psalms.  Sometimes 
Parker's  preface  is  omitted,  so  that  Cranmer's  stands  alone, 
giving  to  a  hasty  reader  the  impression  that  he  has  before 
him  a  copy  of  the  Great  Bible.  The  last  edition  of  the 
Bishops'  Bible  bears  the  date  1608. 

As  to  the  character  of  the  translation  very  different 
views  have  been  held.  As  the  Genevan  version  and  the 
Bishops'  Bible  represented  widely  different  ecclesiastical 
opinions  and  sympathies,  we  can  hardly  wonder  that  many 
a  critic  has  given  a  partisan's  opinion  instead  of  a  sober 
judgment.  We  are,  moreover,  confronted  by  a  difficulty 
which  no  earlier  version  has  presented.  The  revision  was 
intrusted  to  many  hands  ;  each  reviser  seems  to  have  acted 
independently,  and  the  superintendence  exercised  by  the 
archbishop  and  others  could  not  possibly  render  uniform 
the  results  of  the  separate  action  of  many  minds.  The 
version  must  therefore  be  examined  in  various  parts  ;  one 
book  cannot  be  taken  as  representing  others.  It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  the  basis  of  the  translation  is  the  Great 
Bible ;  a  glance  is  sufficient  to  make  this  certain.  The 
merits  of  the  Genevan  Bible  are  so  great,  that,  without 
losing  sight  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  scholarship  of  the 
revisers,  or  of  the  aids  which  they  (in  common  with  the 
Genevan  translators)  possessed  and  used,  we  may  be  con- 
tent to  try  the  Bishops'  Bible  in  most  instances  by  one 
simple  test — how  far  have  the  revisers  of  the  Great  Bible 
availed  themselves  of  the  corrections  and  the  improvements 
which  are  found  in  the  Genevan  version .?  Less  could 
scarcely  be  expected  than  that  those  changes  which  were 
real  improvements,  and  which  could  be  adopted  without 
sacrificing  the  style  and  spirit  of  the  older  translation, 
should  be  taken  into  the  text. 


Estimate  of  the  Bishops   Bible.  175 

In  Numb.  xxiv.  15-24  the  Bishops'  Bible  agrees  in 
almost  every  point  with  Cranmer's.  In  verse  1 5  we  read 
the  plural  {eyes  are  open)  instead  of  the  singular  ;  in  the  next 
verse,  "  falleth  with  open  eyes  "  is  changed  into  ''  falleth, 
and  his  eyes  are  opened;"  and  in  verse  24  "Chittim"  is 
retained  in  the  place  of  the  doubtful  interpretation  "  Italy," 
adopted  in  the  Great  Bible.  Two  of  these  are  changes  for 
the  better,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  five  or  six  clear  improve- 
ments introduced  by  the  translators  of  the  Genevan  version 
are  passed  over  here.  2  Sam.  xxiii.  1-7  is  a  passage  of 
considerable  difficulty,  and  has  given  great  trouble  to  trans- 
lators, ancient  and  modern.  In  these  seven  verses  the 
Bishops'  and  the  Great  Bible  dififer  about  eighteen  times. 
Fifteen  of  the  new  renderings  in  the  former  version  are 
taken  from  the  Genevan  Bible.  Of  the  eighteen  changes, 
thirteen  may  be  called  improvements ;  with  one  exception 
they  are  derived  from  the  Genevan  Bible,  from  which  also 
come  two  changes  which  are  clearly  for  the  worse.  About 
twelve  better  renderings  found  in  the  Genevan  Bible  are 
here  neglected.  In  i  Kings  xix.,  which  is  a  fair  specimen 
of  a  chapter  of  the  historical  books,  the  Bishops'  Bible  can 
hardly  be  distinguished  from  Cranmer's.  In  fourteen  verses 
of  the  twenty-one  there  is  no  difference  whatever,  and  in 
the  remaining  seven  the  discrepancy  does  not  average  as 
much  as  two  words  in  a  verse.  The  chief  variations  are  in 
verse  6,  where  we  read  "a  cake  baken  on  the  coals"  for 
"a  loaf  of  broiled  bread;"  and  in  verse  15,  where  "that 
thou  mayest  anoint "  is  rightly  changed  into  "  and  when  thou 
comest  there  anoint."  For  these  two  corrections  the  re- 
viser was  indebted  to  the  Genevan  Bible ;  but  more  than 
twenty  emendations  which  the  same  version  suggested  he 
has  left  unnoticed.  In  two  difficult  verses  (12,  13)  of 
Isa.  xliv.,  in  which  the  Genevan  Bible  departs  from  Cran- 
mer's at  least  twenty  times  (and  usually  for  the  better),  the 


1/6  The  English  Bible. 

Bishops'  Bible  agrees  with  Cranmer's  as  far  as  the  last  word, 
which  is  "house"  instead  of  "temple."  In  Prov.  viii. 
22-35,  ^ot  more  than  six  words  of  the  Bishops'  Bible  differ 
from  Cranmer's,  and  in  Eccles.  xii.  not  more  than  twelve, 
though  in  each  chapter  the  Genevan  Bible  contains  some 
useful  corrections.  On  the  other  hand,  in  Job  xix.  there 
are  few  verses  of  the  Great  Bible  which  have  not  been 
altered  m  the  revision.  Verses  25,  26,  for  example,  stand 
thus  in  Cranmer's  Bible :  "  For  I  am  sure  that  my  Re- 
deemer liveth,  and  that  I  shall  rise  out  of  the  earth  in  the 
latter  day ;  that  I  shall  be  clothed  again  with  this  skin,  and 
see  God  in  my  flesh."  In  the  Bishops'  Bible  of  1568  we 
read  :  "  For  I  am  sure  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that 
he  shall  raise  up  at  the  latter  day  them  that  lie  in  the  dust ; 
and  though  after  my  skin  the  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet 
shall  I  see  God  in  my  flesh."  This  passage,  it  may  be  re- 
marked, illustrates  clearly  the  variations  in  the  different 
editions  of  the  Bishops'  Bible.  The  folios  of  1568  and 
1575,  for  example,  read  as  above  ;  the  quarto  of  1569  and 
the  foHo  of  1595  go  back  in  all  important  respects  to  the 
reading  of  the  Great  Bible,  the  other  translation  of  verse  26 
being  placed  in  the  margin.  The  remarkable  rendering 
in  verse  25  is  new ;  the  changes  in  verse  26  are  from  the 
Genevan  Bible. 

The  conclusion  from  this  investigation  is.  not  very  favour- 
able to  the  Bishops'  Bible.  In  the  Old  Testament,  it  is 
clear,  Cranmer's  Bible  was  too  closely  followed,  and  im- 
provements which  were  ready  to  the  hand  of  the  translators 
were  not  appreciated.  What  is  original  in  this  version  does 
not  often  possess  any  great  merit ;  nor  does  it  appear  that 
the  revision  of  1572  produced  much  eff'ect  in  the  Old 
Testament. 

When  we  come  to  consider  the  New  Testament,  it  is 
more  important  to  distinguish  between  the  two  editions  of 


Criticisms  by  Lawrence.  177 

the  Bishops'  Bible.  Lawrence's  criticisms,  already  spoken 
of,  bring  before  us  some  thirty  passages  which  stood  in  need 
of  correction.  All  the  renderings  to  which  Lawrence  raised 
objection  are  to  be  found  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Bishops' 
Bible  :  his  corrections,  with  the  exception  of  one,  are  almost 
literally  adopted  in  the  revision  of  1572.  In  two  or  three 
instances  the  faulty  rendering  is  found  in  the  Bishops'  Bible 
alone;  thus  in  Matt.  xxi.  2)2)  we  read  ^^  made  a  vineyard," 
where  almost  all  other  versions  rightly  have  "  planted ; "  and 
in  Col.  ii.  13  we  find  "dead  to  sin,  and  to  the  uncircum- 
cision  of  your  flesh."  The  latter  is  so  serious  a  mistake, 
both  as  a  translation  of  the  Greek  and  in  the  sense  con- 
veyed, that  charity  would  require  us  to  regard  it  as  a  mis- 
print if  the  preposition  "  to  "  were  not  repeated.  In  most 
of  the  passages  the  renderings  to  which  Lawrence  takes 
exception  are  simply  retained  from  the  Great  Bible  and 
other  early  versions.  Lawrence's  criticisms  are  very  in- 
teresting, and  in  most  points  unquestionably  just.  We  owe 
to  him  several  readings  in  our  present  Bibles — for  example, 
armies  in  Matt.  xxii.  7  ;  besides  (instead  of  witJi)  in  Matt. 
XXV.  20 ;  seize  upo?i  in  Matt.  xxi.  t^%  (Lawrence's  suggestion 
was,  ''take  possession  or  seisin  upon  his  inheritance"); 
bramble  bush  (instead  of  bush  or  bushes)  in  Luke  vi.  44. 
The  last  words  of  Mark  xv.  3,  "but  he  answered  nothing," 
were  introduced  at  his  suggestion  from  the  Greek  text  of 
Stephens  (1546);  this  clause,  however,  is  probably  not 
genuine. 

In  judging  of  the  merits  of  the  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  we  must  take  the  version  in  its  corrected  form, 
as  it  appeared  in  1572.  The  verdict  of  the  student  will 
vary  according  to  the  portion  which  he  is  examining.  Again 
and  again  he  will  wonder  at  the  retention  of  an  early 
rendering  which  had  been  corrected  by  a  later  translator,  or 
the  preference  shown  for  a  roundabout  phrase  (such  render- 
id 


1/8  The  English  Bible. 

ings  as  "  when  he  had  gone  a  Httle  farther  he,"  &c.,  instead 
of  "  he  went  a  Httle  farther,  and,"  &c.,  are  especially  common 
in  the  Bishops'  Bible) ;  but  he  will  meet  with  maiiy  proofs  of 
close  study  of  the  original  text,  and  an  earnest  desire  to 
represent  it  with  all  faithfulness  to  the  English  reader.  Dr. 
Westcott's  comment  on  the  translation  of  Eph.  iv.  7 — t6  (a 
very  difficult  section)  will  show  how  much  m.erit  is  possessed 
by  some  portions,  at  least,  of  the  Bishops'  Bible.  Having 
pointed  out  that  in  this  section  the  Great  Bible  and  the 
Bishops'  differ  in  twenty-six  places,  he  adds  :  "  Of  these 
twenty-six  variations  no  less  than  sixteen  are  new,  while 
only  ten  are  due  to  the  Genevan  version,  and  the  character 
of  the  original  corrections  marks  a  very  close  and  thoughtful 
revision,  based  faithfully  upon  the  Greek.  The  anxiously 
literal  rendering  of  the  particles  and  prepositions  is  specially 
worthy  of  notice ;  so  too  the  observance  of  the  order  and 
of  the  original  form  of  the  sentences,  even  where  some 
obscurity  follows  from  it.  In  four  places  the  Authorised 
Version  follows  the  Bishops'  renderings ;  and  only  one 
change  appears  to  be  certainly  for  the  worse,  in  which  the 
rendering  of  the  Genevan  Testament  has  been  followed. 
The  singular  independence  of  the  revision,  as  compared 
with  those  which  have  been  noticed  before,  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  only  four  of  the  new  changes  agree  with  Beza,  and 
at  least  nine  are  definitely  against  him."  The  same  writer 
compares  the  two  chief  editions  of  the  Bishops'  Bible 
throughout  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  changes 
amount  to  nearly  fifty,  and  among  the  new  readings  are 
some  phrases  most  familiar  to  us  all,  as  "  less  than  the  least 
of  all  saints,"  '■^middle  wall  of  partition,"  '■'■fellow-citizens 
with  the  saints." 

The  marginal  notes  in  the  Bishops'  Bible  consist  of 
alternative  renderings,  references  to  similar  passages,  and 
comments  explanatory  of  the  text.      The    comments   are 


Marginal  Notes.  179 

much  less  numerous  here  than  in  the  Genevan  Bible.  They 
are  very  unevenly  distributed.  On  the  first  five  chapters  of 
Job,  for  example,  there  are  (in  the  edition  of  1575)  more 
than  fifty  notes,  a  larger  number  than  we  find  on  the  whole 
book  of  Isaiah,  with  its  sixty-six  chapters.  The  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  contains  nearly  seventy  explanatory  notes,  in 
the  place  of  the  250  of  the  Genevan  Bible :  a  few,  perhaps 
a  dozen,  of  the  Genevan  annotations  are  retained  in  the 
Bishops'  Bible.  It  is  curious  to  notice  the  difference  in  the 
passages  chosen  for  explanation  in  the  two  versions.  Some- 
times it  is  a  rendering  of  the  Genevan  Bible  that  calls  forth 
the  remark  in  this.  Thus  in  Rom.  viii.  6  the  Genevan 
translators  read  "  the  wisdom  of  the  flesh."  The  note  in  the 
Bishops'  Bible  is  as  follows :  ^'(f>povovcn  and  (ppovrjfjua, 
Greek  words,  do  not  so  much  signify  wisdom  and  prudence 
as  affection,  carefulness,  and  minding  of  anything."  A 
little  lower  down  there  is  a  curious  note  on  another  Greek 
word.  In  verse  18,  where  we  now  read  "  I  reckon,"  the 
Bishops'  Bible  has  "  I  am  certainly  persuaded."  The  note 
runs  thus  :  "  XoyL^ofiac  signifieth  to  weigh  or  to  consider ; 
but  because  the  matter  was  certain,  and  St.  Paul  nothing 
doubted  thereof,  it  is  thus  made  :  I  am  persuaded."  Where 
an  uncommon  word  is  used  in  the  text,  the  translator  some- 
times adds  a  short  note  on  its  meaning.  Thus  in  Rom.  xi. 
8,  where  we  now  read  "  the  spirit  of  slumber,"  this  version 
has  ''the  spirit  of  remorse,"  the  last  word  being  explained 
as  "pricking  and  unquietness  of  conscience."  In  Isa. 
Ixvi.  3  we  read,  "  he  that  killeth  a  sheep  for  me  knetcheth  a 
dog,"  with  a  note  which  certainly  cannot  be  considered 
superfluous  :  "  That  is,  cutteth  off  a  dog's  neck." 

The  general  tendency  and  character  of  the  Bishops' 

Bible  are  perhaps  shown  most  clearly  in  the  Apocryphal 

books.    Strange  to  say,  the  Great  Bible  is  followed  here 

also,  though  representing  the  Latin  and  not  the  Greek  text. 

M  2 


i8o  The  English  Bible. 

The  precedent  of  the  Genevan  Bible,  therefore,  is  entirely 
neglected,  as  a  glance  at  the  beginning  of  Tobit,  or  Esther, 
or  at  the  fourth  chapter  of  Judith,  is  sufficient  to  prove.  As 
in  the  Genevan  version,  however,  the  comments  on  the 
Apocrypha  are  very  scanty.  The  Prayer  of  Manasses  is 
restored  to  its  former  position  between  the  additions  to  Daniel 
and  the  First  Book  of  Maccabees. 

Copies  of  the  two  chief  editions  of  the  Bishops'  Bible 
will  be  found  in  many  libraries,  as,  for  instance,  those 
of  the  British  Museum  and  the  Universities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge.  The  inferior  editions  are  frequently  to 
be  met  with. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    RHEIMS   AND    DOUAI    BIBLE. 

Hitherto  our  history  has  mainly  recorded  the  efforts  made 
by  earnest  reformers  of  the  Church  to  diifuse  throughout 
England  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  The  opposition 
to  these  endeavours  has  proceeded  from  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  has  at  times  been  as  successful  as  it  has  been  intense. 
Fifty  years  have  not  elapsed  since  the  time  when  Tyndale's 
Testaments  were  burned  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  and  now  an 
English  version  of  the  New  Testament  is  offered  to  the 
Romanists  themselves,  with  the  sanction  of  an  authority 
which  none  could  dispute.  This  version  bears  the  following 
title :  "  The  New  Testament  of  lesus  Christ,  translated 
faithfvUy  into  English  out  of  the  authentical  Latin,  according 
to  the  best  corrected  copies  of  the  same,  diligently  conferred 
with  the  Greeke  and  other  editions  in  divers  languages  : 
with  argvments  of  bookes  and  chapters,  Annotations,  and 
other  necessarie  helpes,  for  the  better  vnderstanding  of  the 
text,  and  specially  for  the  discouerie  of  the  Corrvptions  of 
diuers  late  translations,  and  for  cleering  the  Controversies 
in  religion  of  these  daies.  In  the  English  College  of 
Rhemes.  Psalm  ii8.^  .  .  .  That  is,  Giue  me  vnder- 
standing and  I  will  searche  thy  law,  and  will  keepe  it  with 

my  whole  hart.     S.  Aug.  tract  2,  in  Epist.  loan 

that  is,  Al  things  that  are  readde  in  holy  Scriptures,  we  must 
heare  with  great  attention,  to  our  instruction  and  saluation  : 

^  This  verse  and  the  quotation  from  Augustine  which  follows  are 
given  in  both  Latin  and  English. 


82  The  E^idish  Bible, 


<b' 


but  those  things  specially  must  be  commended  to  memorie, 
which  make  most  against  Heretikes  :  whose  deceites  cease 
not  to  circumuent  and  beguile  al  the  weaker  sort  and  the 
more  negligent  persons.  Printed  at  Rhemes  by  lohn  Fogny. 
1582.     Cum  privilegio." 

The  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  was  not  published 
until  1609,  1 6 10,  though  finished  long  before.  The  title  is 
similar  to  that  of  the  New  Testament,  "  Doway,"  how- 
ever, being  substituted  for  Rheims ;  the  text  on  the  title- 
page  is  Isaiah  xii.  3,  "  You  shall  draw  waters  in  joy 
out  of  the  Saviour's  fountains."  The  work  was  printed 
at  Do  way  by  Lawrence  Kellam  at  the  "  sign  of  the  Holy 
Lamb." 

The  Romish  College  at  Douai  was  one  of  the  "  English 
Colleges  beyond  the  seas,"  founded  with  the  object  of 
organising  missionary  work  in  England.  William  Allen, 
through  whose  efforts  the  college  was  founded,  was  a  m.an 
of  learning  and  of  untiring  energy.  In  Mary's  reign  he  was 
Principal  of  St.  Mary's  Hall,  Oxford,  and  Canon  of  York ; 
soon  after  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  he  left  England,  and 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  was  the  mainspring  of  the  move- 
ment for  the  restoration  of  England  to  communion  with 
Rome.  He  was  made  Cardinal  by  Sixtus  V.,  in  1587.  In 
consequence  of  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country  the 
college  was  (in  1578)  removed  to  Rheims  for  a  time.  One 
of  the  early  students  at  Douai  was  Gregory  Martin,  formerly 
fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  Oxford,  who  afterwards  became 
teacher  of  Hebrew  and  reader  of  divinity  in  the  College  at 
Rheims.  It  is  probable  that  the  "Rhemish  Testament" 
and  the  "  Douay  Bible  "  owe  their  origin  to  Allen,  but  that 
the  translation  was  mainly  executed  by  Martin.  Besides 
Allen,  three  other  English  scholars,  graduates  of  Oxford,  are 
said  to  have  been  associated  with  Martin  in  the  work — Dr. 
J.  Reynolds,  Dr.  Briston,  or  Bristol,  and  Dr.  Worthington. 


Translated  from  the   Vulgate.  183 

The  last  tv\'o  are  supposed  to  have  contributed  the  notes, 
which  are  an  essential  part  of  this  version. 

The  preface  to  the  Rhemish  Testament  is  an  elaborate 
and  ingenious  document.  The  translators  are  at  no  pains 
to  conceal  that  their  motive  in  undertaking  the  work  was  the 
extensive  circulation  of  other  versions  of  the  Scriptures. 
Not  content  with  translating  truly,  they  "  have  also  set  forth 
large  Annotations  "  to  help  the  studious  reader  embarrassed 
by  the  controversies  of  the  times^  The  text  which  they 
follow  is  not  the  Greek,  but  the  "  old  vulgar  Latin "  used 
in  the  Church  for  1,300  years,  corrected  by  St.  Jerome 
according  to  the  Greek,  commended  by  St.  Augustine,  de- 
clared by  the  holy  Council  of  Trent  to  be  of  all  versions  the 
only  "authentical,"  preferred  even  by  adversaries  such  as 
Beza,  so  exact  in  representing  the  Greek  that  "delicate 
heretics"  have  pronounced  it  rude,  shown  to  be  impartial 
by  the  fact  that  even  the  versions  of  Erasmus  and  others 
are  more  to  the  advantage  of  the  Catholic  cause  than  this 
ancient  Bible  of  the  Church.  The  Latin  (they  say)  is  found 
to  agree  either  with  other  manuscripts  of  the  Greek  or  with 
the  reading  of  ancient  Fathers  of  the  Church.  Whilst,  how- 
ever, the  translation  is  from  the  Latin,  the  Greek  text  is  not 
to  be  disregarded  :  the  reader  will  often  find  the  Greek  word 
(also  the  Latin  word)  placed  in  the  margin  when  the  sense 
is  hard  or  the  reading  ambiguous.  The  peculiarities  of  this 
version,  therefore,  result  partly  from  the  use  of  the  Vulgate 
as  a  basis,  and  partly  from  the  principles  by  which  the  trans- 
lators were  guided  in  their  work. 

We  must  keep  in  mind  that  the  Vulgate  is  really  not 
one  book,  but  a  combination  of  several.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment, with  the  exception  of  the  Psalter,  is  a  translation  from 
the  Hebrew,  executed  by  Jerome  about  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century.  The  Psalter  is  a  revision  (by  Jerome)  of  a 
much  older  translation,  made  not  from  the  Hebrew,  but 


184  The  English  Bible. 

from  the  Septuagint  The  Apocryphal  Books  also  mainly 
belong  to  the  same  early  version,  revised  and  corrected  in 
part.  The  Old  Latin  version  of  the  New  Testament  probably 
dates  from  the  beginning  of  the  second  century ;  the  New 
Testament  of  the  Vulgate  consists  of  this  older  translation, 
revised  with  care  in  the  Gospels,  but  imperfectly  in  the 
Epistles.  In  the  Psalms,  therefore,  a  translation  from  the 
Vulgate  presents  the  original  at  fourth  hand,  so  to  speak, 
the  Hebrew  having  passed  into  a  Greek  version  (often  of 
very  inferior  quality),  the  Greek  into  a  Latin,  before  the 
translation  into  English  commenced.  On  the  other  hand, 
Jerome's  own  work  is  of  great  excellence.  We  may  expect, 
therefore,  that  any  correct  reproduction  of  the  Vulgate  in 
English  will  be  very  faulty  and  imperfect  in  the  Book  of 
Psalms,  but  usually  good  and  true  in  the  greater  part  of  the 
Old  Testament.  In  the  New  Testament  the  case  is  more 
complicated.  The  Latin  translation,  being  derived  from 
manuscripts  more  ancient  than  any  we  now  possess,  is 
frequently  a  witness  of  the  highest  value  in  regard  to  the 
Greek  text  which  was  current  in  the  earliest  times,  and  (as 
was  remarked  in  an  earlier  chapter)  its  testimony  is  in  many 
cases  confirmed  by  Greek  manuscripts  which  have  been 
discovered  or  examined  since  the  sixteenth  century.  Hence 
we  may  expect  to  find  that  the  Rhemish  New  Testament 
frequently  anticipates  the  judgment  of  later  scholars  as  to 
the  presence  or  absence  of  certain  words,  clauses,  or  even 
verses.  Thus  in  Acts  xvi.  7,  there  is  now  overwhelming 
evidence  for  reading  "the  Spirit  of  Jesus  suffered  them 
not  j "  in  Matt.  v.  44,  the  words  "  bless  them  that  curse  you, 
do  good  to  them  that  hate  you,"  and  the  words  "which 
despitefully  use  you  and,''  should  be  omitted  from  the  text, 
having  found  their  way  into  later  manuscripts  from  St.  Luke's 
Gospel;  and  in  i  Peter  iii.  15  we  must  read  "Lord  Christ" 
instead  of  "  Lord  God."     In  these  and  many  other  instances 


Foreign    Words  retained.  185 

the  Rhemish  Testament  agrees  with  the  best  critical  editions 
of  the  present  day.  There  are,  no  doubt,  many  examples 
of  a  different  kind,  such  as  the  reading  "  by  good  works  make 
your  calling  and  election  sure"  (2  Peter  i.  10);  but  on  the 
whole^  the  influence  of  the  use  of  the  Vulgate  would  in  the 
New  Testament  be  more  frequently  for  good  than  for  harm 
in  respect  of  text.  As  a  translation  the  Vulgate  is,  as  a  rule, 
literal  and  faithful,  but  often  obscure ;  a  correct  reproduc- 
tion of  the  Vulgate  will  reflect  these  qualities,  and  this  the 
Rhemish  Testament  certainly  does.  If,  however,  we  allow 
that  this  version  faithfully  represents  the  Latin,  it  must  be 
understood  that  it  is  the  Latin  as  current  in  the  time  of  the 
translators.  Even  then  it  was  acknowledged  that  the  com- 
mon copies  of  the  Vulgate  diff"ered  widely  from  Jerome's 
text,  and  the  need  of  a  new  examination  of  manuscripts  was 
felt  as  early  as  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  was  not  until  1587 
and  1592  that  the  authorised  editions  of  the  Vulgate 
appeared,  and  these  were  very  far  from  supplying  the  want. 
We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  principles 
of  action  adopted  by  the  translators.  Having  the  Latin 
text  before  them,  how  did  they  deal  with  it  ?  The  answer 
may  be  given  in  few  words  :  the  translation  is  literal  and 
(as  a  rule,  if  not  always)  scrupulously  faithful  and  exact, 
but  disfigured  by  a  profusion  of  unfamiliar  and  Latinised 
words,  which  convey  no  meaning  whatever  to  the  ordinary 
English  reader.  The  last  peculiarity  strikes  the  eye  at 
the  first  opening  of  the  volume.  The  translators  argue 
skilfully  in  defence  of  their  practice.  If  (they  ask)  such 
words  as  Raca,  Hosanna,  and  Belial  be  retained,  why  not 
Corbana  (for  treasury,  Matt,  xxvii.  6)  ?  If  Sabbath  is  kept 
for  the  seventh  day,  why  not  Parasceue  for  the  Sabbath- 
eve  ?  If  Pentecost  is  a  proper  word,  what  objection  is 
there  to  Pascha  for  Passover,  Azymes  for  sweet  {i.e.,  un- 
leavened) bread,  bread  of  proposition  for  shew-bread  ?    If 


1 86  The  English  Bible. 

proselyte  and  phylacteries  be  allowed,  why  not  neophyte 
and  didragmes?  It  is  not  possible,  they  maintain,  to 
avoid  the  word  evangelise,  for  no  word  can  convey  its 
meaning;  and  for  the  same  reason  they  use  "depositum" 
in  I  Tim.  vi.  20 ;  "  He  exinanited  himself"  in  Phil.  ii.  7  ; 
"to  exhaust  the  sins  of  many"  in  Heb.  ix.  28.  A  table 
containing  the  explanation  of  fifty-eight  words  is  given  at 
the  end  of  the  book.  Some  of  these  words  are  now 
familiar  to  all  :  acquisition,  victim,  prescience,  gratis,  allegory, 
adulterate,  advent,  resuscitate,  co-operate ;  others,  as  comines- 
sation,  cofiiristate,  prejimtion,  are  strangers  still.  Others 
are  still  in  use,  but  not  in  the  sense  here  assigned.  Thus 
calumniate  does  not  now  denote  *'  violent  oppression  by 
word  or  deed,"  nor  is  prevarication  equivalent  to  "  trans- 
gression," nor  is  issue  limited  to  a  "good  event."  But 
this  list  does  not  by  any  means  do  justice  to  the  peculiar 
vocabulary  of  the  Rhemish  translators,  as  the  following 
quotations  will  prove  :  "  He  will  shew  you  a  great  refectory 
adorned"  (Luke  xxii.  12);  "I  will  not  drink  of  the 
generation  of  the  vine"  (ver.  18);  "sleeping  for  pensive- 
ness  "  (ver.  45) ;  "  transfer  this  chalice  "  (ver  42) ;  "  averting 
the  people"  (xxiii.  14);  "adjudged  their  petition  to  be 
done"  (ver.  24) ;  "wrapped  it  in  sindon"  (ver.  53);  "society 
of  his  passions"  (Phil.  iii.  10).  To  say  nothing  of  words 
now  well  known  (as  altercation,  fallacy,  primacy,  demur eness, 
contumelious),  we  find  many  other  Latin  words  disguised, 
or  hardly  disguised,  such  as  odible,  coinquination,  acception, 
correption,  exprobrate,  potestates,  longanimity,  obsecration,  sceno- 
pegia.  The  translation  of  some  verses  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Ephesians  will  illustrate  at  once  the  Latinised  diction 
and  the  excessive  literalness  of  this  version  :  "To  me 
the  least  of  al  the  sainctes  is  giuen  this  grace,  among 
the  Gentils  to  euangelize  the  vnsearcheable  riches  of  Christ, 
and  to  illuminate  al  men  what  is  the  dispensation  of  the 


Fidelity  of  the   Version.  187 

sacrament  hidden  from  worlds  in  God,  who  created  al 
things  :  that  the  manifold  wisedom  of  God  may  be  notified 
to  the  Princes  and  Potestats  in  the  celestials  by  the  Church, 
according  to  the  prefinition  of  worlds,  which  he  made  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord ; "  "  Our  wrestling  is  not  against 
flesh  and  bloud  :  but  against  Princes  and  Potestats,  against 
the  rectors  of  the  world  of  this  darkenes,  against  the 
spirituals  of  wickednes  in  the  celestials." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  translator's  care  strictly  to  follow 
the  text  before  him  often  led  to  happy  results,  the  pre- 
servation of  a  significant  phrase  of  the  original,  or  of  an 
impressive  arrangement  of  words.  Thus  every  translator 
would  now  agree  with  this  version  in  the  words,  "  liberty 
of  the  glory  of  the  children  of  God"  (Rom.  viii.  21); 
"  holiness  of  the  truth "  (Eph.  iv.  24) ;  "  by  their  fruits 
you  shall  know  them"  (Matt.  vii.  16).  If  we  turn  to 
any  chapter  of  the  Gospels  we  shall  find  examples  of 
excellent  translation,  which  in  some  cases  have  been 
followed  by  our  Authorised  Version,  In  Matt,  xxv.,  for 
example,  the  translation  in  ver.  8,  "our  lamps  are  going 
out,"  is  unquestionably  correct;  in  verses  17,  18,  20,  22, 
the  article  should  certainly  be  inserted,  the  Jive,  the  two ; 
in  verse  21,  "place  thee"  is  much  better  than  "make 
thee  ruler;"  and  in  verse  27,  "bankers,"  if  a  somewhat 
bold  rendering,  is  more  intelligible  than  "  exchangers." 
It  is  from  the  Rhemish  Testament  that  the  Authorised 
Version  obtains  "blessed"  in  Matt.  xxvi.  26  (for  "gave 
thanks");  "hymn"  in  verse  30;  "adjure"  in  verse  63; 
and  it  would  have  been  well  if  our  translators  had  also 
adopted  "court"  in  verse  3,  and  "Rabbi"  in  verses  25 
and  49.  In  the  first  chapter  of  St.  James  we  owe  to 
the  Rhemish  version  "  upbraideth  not "  (verse  5),  "  nothing 
doubting"  (verse  6),  "the  engrafted  word"  (verse  21), 
"bridleth  not"  (verse  26).     If  three   chapters,   taken  by 


1 88  The  English  Bible. 

accident,   yield    such   results,    the   reader  will   not   doubt 
that  very  many  examples   of  the    same  description  might 
be    produced.      Nothing    is    easier    than    to    accumulate 
instances  of  the  eccentricity  of  this  version,  of  its  obscure 
and   inflated  renderings ;  but   only  minute   study   can   do 
justice  to  its  faithfulness,  and  to  the  care  with  which  the 
translators    executed    their    work.       Every   other   English 
version  is  to  be  preferred  to  this,  if  it  must  be  taken  as 
a   whole;  no   other   English  version   will   prove   more  in- 
structive to  the  student  who  will  take  the  pains  to  separate 
what  is  good  and  useful  from  what  is  ill-advised  and  wrong. 
The  marginal  notes  which  are  added  by  the  translators 
from  time  to  time  prove  that   they  kept  the  Greek  text 
before  them,  though  translating  from  the  Latin.     Sometimes 
this   saves   them   from  mistake,    as   in    Phil.  iv.   6,   where 
the  Latin  might  mean  ^'  in  all  prayer,"  but  the  Greek  must 
signify  "  in  everything  by  prayer."     The  most  remarkable 
proof  of  their  use  of  the  Greek  is  their  treatment  of  the 
Greek   article.      As   the   Latin   language   has   no   definite 
article,   it   might    well    be   supposed   that   of  all   English 
versions  the  Rhemish  would  be  least  accurate  in  this  point 
of   translation.      The   veiy   reverse   is   actually   the   case. 
There   are  many  instances    (a  comparatively  hasty  search 
has  discovered  more  than  forty)  in  which,  of  all  versions, 
from  Tyndale's  to  the  Authorised   inclusive,  this   alone  is 
correct   in   regard   to   the  article.     This   is   the   more   re- 
markable, as  the  older  versions  were  certainly  known  and 
used  by  the  translators  of  the  Rhemish  Testament.     They 
make  no  allusion  in  their  preface  to  any  indebtedness  to 
preceding   translators,    but    of  the   fact    there   can   be   no 
doubt.     The   comparison   of  any  chapter  with  the   trans- 
lations in  the  Genevan  and  Bishop's  Bibles  will  be  sufficient 
to  convince  the  most  incredulous. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  say  much  on  those  peculiarities 


Various  Editions.  189 

of  this  Testament  which  stand  connected  with  the  faith 
professed  by  the  translators.  In  a  Roman  CathoUc  version 
we  expect  such  renderings  as  do  penance^  priest  (for  elder), 
sacrafnent  (for  mystery  or  secret)',  "  CathoHc  usage  "  has  also 
led  to  the  substitution  of  "  our  Lord "  for  "  the  Lord." 
There  is  but  little,  however,  in  the  text  to  favour  Romish 
doctrine  :  it  is  in  the  notes  that  this  is  strenuously  and  per- 
severingly  taught.  With  these,  differing  widely  from  the 
translation  in  their  spirit  and  characteristics,  we  are  happily 
not  concerned  in  this  place.  Elaborate  confutations  of  the 
teaching  of  these  notes  were  published  within  a  few  years, 
by  W.  Fulke  in  1589,  and  T.  Cartwright  in  16 18.  In  the 
former  work  the  Rhemish  Version  and  that  of  the  Bishops' 
Bible  are  given  in  parallel  columns.  Neither  of  these 
writers  appears  to  criticise  the  translation  to  any  large 
extent. 

On  the  Douai  Version  of  the  Old  Testament  it  will  not 
be  necessary  to  dwell.  As  it  was  not  published  until  16 10, 
it  does  not  belong  (so  to  speak)  to  the  line  of  ancestry  of 
our  Authorised  Version. 

Editions  of  the  New  Testament  appeared  in  1600,  1621, 
1633,  and  of  the  whole  Bible  in  1635.  In  1749,  1750,  the 
work  was  revised  by  Dr.  Challoner  j  another  revised  edition, 
by  Dr.  Troy,  bears  date  1791.  The  later  editions  differ 
widely  from  the  original  version  ;  an  interesting  paper  on 
the  variations  will  be  found  among  the  collected  Essays  of 
the  late  Cardinal  Wiseman. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

THE   AUTHORISED   VERSION. 

When  James  I.  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  March,  1603,  he 
found  the  southern  part  of  his  dominions  in  a  state  of  great 
uneasiness  and  disquiet  in  consequence  of  the  differences 
between  the  Puritan  party  and  their  opponents  in  the  Church 
of  England.  One  of  the  first  events  in  his  reign  was  the 
presentation  of  the  celebrated  "Millenary  Petition,"  sub- 
scribed by  some  hundreds  of  Puritans,  praying  for  alterations 
in  the  Church  service,  and  for  greater  strictness  in  eccle- 
siastical discipline.  The  king,  by  no  means  unwilling  to 
play  the  part  of  moderator,  resolved  to  convoke  an  assembly, 
in  which  the  discordant  opinions  of  the  rival  parties  might 
be  stated,  and  be  submitted  to  free  discussion.  Thus 
originated  the  famous  Hampton  Court  Conference,  held  on 
the  14th,  15  th,  and  i6th  of  January,  1604.  We  are  not 
here  concerned  with  the  petitions  and  arguments  which 
mainly  occupied  the  hours  of  debate ;  our  present  interest 
is  in  a  question  which  was  altogether  subordinate  at  the 
time,  but  which  the  event  proved  to  be  the  most  important 
and  the  most  fruitful  of  all  the  questions  raised.  At  this 
conference  the  Puritans  were  represented  by  Dr.  Reynolds, 
President  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Oxford,  Dr.  Sparke, 
Mr.  Knewstubbs,  and  Mr.  Chaderton  ;  .the  opposite  party 
by  Whitgift,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Bancroft,  Bishop  of 
London,  seven  other  bishops,  and  five  deans.  An  account 
of  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  conference,  written  by  Dr. 
Barlow,  Dean  of  Chester,  is  our  chief  authority  for  the 
proceedings  of  this  assembly. 


A  New   Translation  asked  for.  191 

In  the  course  of  the  second  day,  Dr.  Reynolds  "moved 
his  Majesty  that  there  might  be  a  new  translation  of  the 
Bible,  because  those  which  were  allowed  in  the  reign  of 
King  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward  VI.  were  corrupt,  and  not 
answerable  to  the  truth  of  the  original.  For  example,  first, 
Gal.  iv,  25,  the  Greek  word  crvaTOiyd  is  not  well  translated, 
as  now  it  is ;  bordereth  neither  expressing  the  force  of  the 
word,  nor  the  Apostle's  sense,  nor  the  situation  of  the  place. 
Secondly,  Ps.  cv.  28,  'They  were  not  obedient,'  the  original 
being,  'They  were  not  disobedient'  Thirdly,  Ps.  cvi.  30, 
'  Then  stood  up  Phinees  and  prayed  ;'  the  Hebrew  hath 
'  executed  judgment.'  To  which  motion  there  was,  at  the 
present,  no  gainsaying,  the  objections  being  trivial  and 
old,  and  already  in  print,  often  answered  ;  only  my  lord  of 
London  well  added,  that  if  every  man's  humour  should  be 
followed;  there  would  be  no  end  of  translating.  Whereupon 
his  Highness  wished  that  some  special  pains  should  be  taken 
in  that  behalf  for  one  uniform  translation  (professing  that  he 
could  never  yet  see  a  Bible  well  translated  in  English,  but 
the  worst  of  all  his  Majesty  thought  the  Geneva  to  be),  and 
this  to  be  done  by  the  best  learned  in  both  the  universities  ; 
after  them  to  be  reviewed  by  the  bishops  and  the  chief  learned 
of  the  church;  from  them  to  be  presented  to  the  privy 
council ;  and  lastly  to  be  ratified  by  his  royal  authority.  And 
so  this  whole  church  to  be  bound  unto  it  and  none  other. 
Marry,  withal,  he  gave  this  caveat  (upon  a  word  cast  out  by 
my  lord  of  London),  that  no  marginal  notes  should  be  added, 
having  found  in  them  which  are  annexed  to  the  Geneva 
translation  (which  he  saw  in  a  book  given  him  by  an 
English  lady)  some  notes  very  partial,  untrue,  seditious, 
and  savouring  too  much  of  dangerous  and  traitorous 
conceits.  As,  for  example,  the  first  chapter  of  Exodus, 
and  the  nineteenth  verse,  where  the  marginal  note 
alloweth   disobedience   unto  kings;  and  2   Chron.  xv.   16, 


192  The  English  Bible. 

the  note  taxeth  Asa  for  deposing   his   mother   only,    and 
not  kilHng  her." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  defend  the  Genevan  Bible  against 
the  royal  critic.  On  the  real  excellence  of  the  translation 
enough  has  been  said  already,  and  the  two  notes  quoted  as 
dangerous  do  not  need  any  apology.  The  narrative  well 
illustrates  the  conflicting  views  of  two  parties,  for  the  quota- 
tions given  by  Dr.  Reynolds  are  from  the  Great  Bible  and 
the  Bishops'  Bible,  and  in  each  case  the  rendering  is  cor- 
rected in  the  Genevan  Version.  On  the  one  side,  therefore, 
the  Genevan  Bible  is  the  standard  by  which  the  translations 
are  tried  ;  on  the  other,  the  faults  and  the  dangerous  teach- 
ing of  this  same  version  are  taken  as  the  ground  for  a  new 
translation. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  scheme  would  have  fallen 
to  the  ground,  had  it  not  harmonised  so  completely  with  the 
king's  turn  of  mind  and  favourite  pursuits.  When  Convo- 
cation met,  shortly  after  the  conference,  not  a  word  appears 
to  have  been  said  on  the  subject.  A  letter  from  the  king  to 
Bancroft^  dated  July  22nd,  1604,  gives  us  our  earliest  infor- 
mation, but  by  this  time  the  plans  for  the  execution  of  the 
work  seem  to  have  been  completely  arranged.  The  king , 
announces  that  he  has  chosen  (chiefly,  we  may  suppose,  on 
the  nomination  of  the  universities)  fifty-four  translators,  to 
meet  in  various  companies  at  Westminster,  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  under  the  presidency  of  the  Dean  of  West- 
minster and  the  two  Hebrew  Professors.  Bancroft  is  re- 
quired to  take  steps,  in  conjunction  with  the  other  bishops, 
for  providing  the  translators  with  church  preferment  in  recom- 
pense for  their  labours,  and  also  for  procuring  from  learned 
men  throughout  the  kingdom  criticisms  on  the  earlier  trans- 
lations, and  suggestions  on  difficult  passages.  Other  letters 
like  this  bear  testimony  to  the  king's  earnestness  in  the  pro- 
secution of  the  work.     It  is  therefore  not  a  little  surprising 


The   Translators  appointed.  193 

to  find  that  three  years  passed  away  before  the  com- 
panies entered  on  their  labours.  The  difficulty  in  providing 
funds  to  meet  necessary  expenses,  the  death  of  Lively,  the 
Hebrew  Professor  at  Cambridge,  and  probably  of  others 
who  had  been  selected  as  translators,  were,  no  doubt, 
amongst  the  obstacles  which  retarded  the  work. 

The  letter  in  which  the  king  refers  to  the  fifty-four  trans- 
lators contains  no  list  of  names,  and  no  information  from 
other  sources  enables  us  to  ascertain  with  exactness  on 
whom  the  choice  had  fallen.  The  lists  we  possess  specify 
no  more  than  forty-seven.  Whether  the  discrepancy  arises 
from  the  changes  in  the  composition  of  the  companies  which 
took  place  (through  death  or  other  causes)  between  1604 
and  the  completion  of  the  work  in  161 1,  or  whether  the 
list  of  fifty-four  included  bishops  or  other  scholars,  intrusted, 
not  with  translation,  but  with  the  revision  of  the  work  of 
the  six  companies,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

When  we  inquire  more  particularly  into  the  details  of 
the  plan,  other  difficulties  present  themselves,  which  cannot 
now  be  cleared  up.  The  following  account,  however,  derived 
from  the  best  authorities,  may  be  relied  on  as  generally 
correct. 

To  the  first  company,  which  met  at  Westminster,  were 
assigned  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  as  far  as  2  Kings. 
At  the  head  of  this  company  was  Dr.  Launcelot  Andrews, 
celebrated  equally  for  piety  and  for  learning,  then  (1604) 
Dean  of  Westminster,  afterwards,  in  succession.  Bishop  of 
Chichester,  Ely,  and  Winchester.  His  coadjutors  were 
Dr.  J.  Overall,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  and  Professor  of  Divinity 
at  Cambridge,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Norwich;  Dr.  A.  de 
Saravia  (the  friend  of  Hooker),  a  noted  linguist;  Dr.  R. 
Clark,  Fellow  of  Christ's  College,  Cambridge ;  Dr.  J.  Lay- 
field,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  said  to  have 
been  "  skilled  in  architecture  ; "   Dr.  R.  Teigh,  called  by 

N 


194  The  English  Bible. 

Wood  "an  excellent  textuary,  and  a  profound  linguist;" 
F.  Burleigh  \  G.  King,  afterwards  Professor  of  Hebrew  at 
Cambridge ;  R.  Thomson,  known  as  "  Dutch  Thomson " 
(from  the  land  of  his  birth),  said  to  have  been  "an  admirable 
philologist;"  and  the  celebrated  William  Bedwell,  "the 
principal  Arabic  scholar  of  his  time." 

To  the  first  Cambridge  Company  were  intrusted  the 
books  from  2  Chronicles  to  Ecclesiastes.  This  band  con- 
sisted of  eight  divines  :  Edward  Lively,  an  eminent  Oriental 
scholar.  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  University  from  1580 
to  his  death,  in  1605  ;  Dr.  Richardson,  afterwards  Master 
of  Trinity  College;  Dr.  Laurence  Chaderton  (already  spoken 
of  in  connexion  with  the  Hampton  Court  Conference),  the 
first  Master  of  Emmanuel  College,  in  which  is  preserved  a 
Hebrew  Bible  with  his  annotations,  attesting  his  Rabbinical 
learning ;  F.  Dellingham,  Fellow  of  Christ's  College  ;  T. 
Harrison,  Vice-Master  of  Trinity  College,  noted  for  his 
excellent  knowledge  of  Hebrew  and  Greek;  R.  Andrews 
(brother  of  the  Bishop),  afterwards  Master  of  Jesus  College  ; 
R.  Spalding,  Lively's  successor  as  Professor  of  Hebrew ; 
A.  Byng,  who  succeeded  King  in  the  same  office.  John 
Boys,  mentioned  below,  afterwards  joined  this  company. 

The  third  company  met  at  Oxford,  and  had  the  honour- 
able task  of  translating  the  prophetical  books  from  Isaiah  to 
Malachi.  At  its  head  was  Dr.  J.  Harding,  President  of 
Magdalen  College  and  Professor  of  Hebrew.  With  him 
were  associated  Dr.  Reynolds,  President  of  Corpus  Christi 
College,  a  man  of  remarkable  learning,  by  whose  early 
death  (in  1607)  the  work  which  he  was  the  first  to  suggest 
suffered  great  loss;  Dr.  T.  Holland,  Rector  of  Exeter 
College,  formerly  Professor  of  Divinity;  Dr.  R.  Kilbye, 
Rector  of  Lincoln  College,  afterw^ards  Professor  of  Hebrew ; 
Dr.  Miles  Smith,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  renowned 
for  his  familiar  knowledge  of  Hebrew,  Syriac,  and  cognate 


Allotment  of  the  Books.  195 

languages ;  Dr.  R.  Brett,  also  noted  for  Oriental  learning ; 
and  R.  Fairclough,  Fellow  of  New  College. 

The  Apocryphal  books  were  translated  by  a  fourth 
company,  meeting  at  Cambridge.  This  company  numbered 
seven  scholars  :  Dr.  J.  Duport,  Master  of  Jesus  College  \ 
Dr.  W.  Braithwaite,  Deputy  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity, 
afterwards  Master  of  Caius  College;  Dr.  J.  Radcliffe, 
Fellow  of  Trinity  College ;  Dr.  T.  Ward,  afterwards  Master 
of  Sidney  Sussex  College,  and  Margaret  Professor ;  A. 
Downs,  for  nearly  forty  years  Professor  of  Greek,  and  one 
of  the  best  scholars  of  his  age;  John  Boys,  distinguished 
alike  for  Greek  and  Hebrew;  and  Mr.  Ward,  Fellow  of 
King's  College. 

The  four  Gospels,  and  the  Acts,  and  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion, were  placed  in  the  hands  of  eight  Oxford  scholars : 
Dr.  T.  Ravis,  Dean  of  Christ  Church,  afterwards  Bishop  of 
Gloucester;  Dr.  G.  Abbot,  for  some  time  Master  of  Uni- 
versity College,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  from  16 10  to 
1633  ;  Dr.  G.  Thompson,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Gloucester; 
Mr.  Savile,  afterwards  Sir  H.  Savile,  tutor  in  Greek  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  Provost  of  Eton,  celebrated  also  for  his 
splendid  edition  of  Chrysostom,  and  for  his  noble  bene- 
factions to  his  university ;  Dr.  J.  Perin,  and  Dr.  J.  Harmer, 
at  different  times  Professors  of  Greek.  Of  the  remaining 
names  some  lists  specify  Dr.  Eedes,  Dean  of  Worcester, 
who  died  in  1604,  and  Dr.  Ravens  :  others.  Dr.  Aghonby, 
Principal  of  St.  Edmund's  Hall ;  Dr.  Montague,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Winchester ;  Dr.  L.  Hutton,  Canon  of  Christ- 
church,  "  an  excellent  Grecian,  and  well  read  in  the  Fathers 
and  Schoolmen." 

Of  the  remaining  company,  which  translated  the  Epistles, 

we  know  but  litde.    Dr.  Barlow,  Dean  of  Chester,  afterwards 

Bishop  of  Lincoln,  has  been  already  mentioned  ;  W.  Dakins 

was   Fellow   of    Trinity   College,    Cambridge,   and    Greek 

N  2 


196  The  Ejiglish  Bible. 

Lecturer;  Dr.  T.  Spencer  is  supposed  to  be  the  successor 
of  Dr.  Reynolds  in  the  Presidency  of  Corpus  Christi  College, 
Oxford.  Of  Dr.  Hutchinson,  Mr.  Fenton,  Mr.  Rabbett, 
and  Mr.  Sanderson,  nothing  is  known.  This  company  also 
met  at  Westminster. 

The  duties  of  the  revisers,  and  the  plan  of  the  new- 
work,  were  defined  in  the  following  body  of  instructions 
supphed  to  each  company  : — 

"  I.  The  ordinary  Bible  read  in  the  Church,  commonly 
called  the  Bishops'  Bible,  to  be  followed,  and  as  little  altered 
as  the  truth  of  the  original  will  admit. 

"  2.  The  names  of  the  prophets  and  the  holy  writers, 
with  the  other  names  of  the  text,  to  be  retained  as  nigh  as 
may  be,  accordingly  as  they  were  vulgarly  used. 

"  3.  The  old  ecclesiastical  words  to  be  kept,  viz.,  the 
word  church  not  to  be  translated  co7igregaiion^  &c. 

"  4.  When  a  word  hath  divers  significations,  that  to  be 
kept  which  hath  been  most  commonly  used  by  the  most  of 
the  ancient  fathers,  being  agreeable  to  the  propriety  of  the 
place  and  the  analogy  of  the  faith. 

"5.  The  division  of  the  chapters  to  be  altered  either 
not  at  all,  or  as  little  as  may  be,  if  necessity  so  require. 

"  6.  No  marginal  notes  at  all  to  be  affixed,  but  only  for 
the  explanation  of  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  words  which  cannot, 
without  some  circumlocution,  so  briefly  and  fitly  be  expressed 
in  the  text. 

"7.  Such  quotations  of  places  to  be  marginally  set 
down  as  shall  serve  for  the  fit  reference  of  one  Scripture  to 
another. 

"  8.  Every  particular  man  of  each  company  to  take  the 
same  chapter  or  chapters  ;  and  having  translated  or  amended 
them  severally  by  himself  where  he  thinketh  good,  all  to 
meet  together,  confer  what  they  have  done,  and  agree  for 
their  parts  what  shall  stand. 


The  Duties  of  the  Revisers,  197 

"  9.  As  any  one  company  hath  dispatched  any  one  book 
in  this  manner,  they  shall  send  it  to  the  rest  to  be  considered 
of  seriously  and  judiciously,  for  his  Majesty  is  very  careful 
in  this  point. 

"10.  If  any  company,  upon  the  review  of  the  book  so 
sent,  doubt  or  differ  upon  any  place,  to  send  them  word 
thereof,  note  the  place,  and  withal  send  the  reasons ;  to 
which  if  they  consent  not,  the  difference  to  be  compounded 
at  the  general  meeting,  which  is  to  be  of  the  chief  persons 
of  each  company  at  the  end  of  the  work. 

"  II.  When  any  place  of  special  obscurity  is  doubted  of, 
letters  to  be  directed  by  authority  to  send  to  any  learned 
man  in  the  land  for  his  judgment  of  such  a  place. 

"  12.  Letters  to  be  sent  from  every  bishop  to  the  rest  of 
his  clergy,  admonishing  them  of  this  translation  in  hand, 
and  to  move  and  charge  as  many  as  being  skilful  in  the 
tongues,  and  having  taken  pains  in  that  kind,  to  send  his 
particular  observations  to  the  company  either  at  Westmin- 
ster, Cambridge,  or  Oxford. 

"  13.  The  directors  in  each  company  to  be  the  Deans 
of  Westminster  and  Chester  for  that  place,  and  the  king's 
professors  in  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  in  either  university. 

"  14.  These  translations  to  be  used  wh^n  they  agree 
better  with  the  text  than  the  Bishops'  Bible  :  Tindale's, 
Matthew's,  Coverdale's,  Whitchurch's,  Geneva. 

"  15.  Besides  the  said  directors  before  mentioned,  three 
or  four  of  the  most  ancient  and  grave  divines  in  either  of 
the  universities,  not  employed  in  translating,  to  be  assigned 
by  the  Vice-Chancellor  upon  conference  with  the  rest  of  the 
Heads  to  be  overseers  of  the  translations,  as  well  Hebrew 
as  Greek,  for  the  better  observation  of  the  fourth  rule  above 
specified.'' 

When  each  company  had  completed  the  allotted  task, 
the  several  parts  were  collected  for  revision.    The  ninth  rule 


iqS  The  Efiglish  Bible. 

prescribed  that  every  book  should  be  submitted  to  the  judg- 
ment of  all  the  companies ;  but  even  had  it  been  possible 
to  carry  such  a  rule  into  effect,  yet  much  would  afterwards 
remain  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  arrangement  and  the 
harmonising  of  details.  Six  of  the  translators — twelve, 
according  to  another  account — one  (or  two)  out  of  each 
company,  met  together  at  the  close  to  review  the  work. 
Boys  and  Downs,  of  the  Cambridge  company,  "  were  sent 
for  up  to  London,  where,  meeting  their  four  fellow-labourers, 
they  went  daily  to  Stationers'  Hall,  and  in  three-quarters  of 
a  year  fulfilled  their  task.  All  which  time  they  received 
duly  thirty  shillings  each  of  them,  by  the  week,  from  the 
Company  of  Stationers ;  ^  though  before  they  had  nothing." 
Who  the  "  four  fellow-labourers  "  were,  we  have  no  means 
of  ascertaining.  Bishop  Bilson,  though  not  one  of  the 
translators,  is  said  to  have  been  connected  with  the  final 
revision,  and  the  account  which  is  given  us  of  Bancroft's 
influence  on  the  translation  has  led  some  to  add  his  name 
also.  The  reader  may  be  surprised  to  find  that  so  much  of 
the  history  is  involved  in  obscurity.  "  Never,"  says  a  writer 
who  is  our  highest  authority  on  the  translation  of  i6ii,^ 
"  was  a  great  enterprise  like  the  production  of  our  Authorised 
Version  carried  out  with  less  knowledge  handed  down  to 
posterity  of  the  labourers,  their  method  and  order  of  work- 
ing." The  only  account  which  we  possess  of  the  procedure 
of  the  translators  is  to  be  found  in  Selden's  Table  Talk :  it 
appears  to  relate  to  the  last  revision.  "  The  translation  in 
King  James'  time  took  an  excellent  way.  That  part  of  the 
Bible  was  given  to  him  who  was  most  excellent  in  such  a 
tongue  (as  the  Apocrypha  to  Andrew  Downs),  and  then 

1  Mr.  Anderson  makes  it  very  probable  that  the  money  was  fur- 
nished by  the  printer,  R.  Barker. 

2  Dr.    Scrivener,   Introduction  to  the  Cambridge  Paragraph  Bible^ 

p.   12. 


The  New  Translation  published.  199 

they  met  together,  and  one  read  the  translation,  the  rest 
holding  in  their  hands  some  Bible,  either  of  the  learned 
tongues,  or  French,  Spanish,  Italian,  &c.  :  if  they  found  any 
fault,  they  spoke ;  if  not,  he  read  on." 

In  161 1,  seven  years  after  the  Hampton  Court  Con- 
ference, the  new  translation  was  given  to  the  world.  The 
title-page  of  the  volume  (a  folio  printed  in  black-letter  by 
R.  Barker),  contains  the  statements  with  which  we  are  all 
familiar,  and  the  Dedication  which  follows  is  equally  well 
known.  It  is  otherwise  with  the  Translators'  Preface,  which 
is  not  to  be  found  in  modern  Bibles.  This  is  a  document  of 
considerable  length  (equal  to  about  thirty  of  these  pages), 
written  by  Dr.  Miles  Smith,  in  which  the  translators  justify 
the  demand  for  a  new  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
explain  the  principles  which  have  guided  their  own  action. 
We  have  not  space  for  quotations,  but  must  content  our- 
selves with  urging  our  readers  to  make  themselves  acquainted 
with  this  learned  and  very  interesting  document.^  Besides 
a  Calendar,  Table  of  Lessons,  and  other  matter,  belonging 
rather  to  the  Prayer-book  than  to  the  Bible,  there  are  given 
elaborate  Tables  of  Genealogies,  drawn  up  by  John  Speed, 
the  celebrated  historian.  The  Table  of  the  Books  of  Scrip- 
ture agrees  in  almost  all  respects  with  that  contained  in  our 
present  Bibles. 

The  statements  on  the  title-page  are  of  importance. 
What  we  are  to  understand  by  the  notice  that  the  version 
is  "  appointed  to  be  read  in  churches,"  it  is  hard  to  say. 
"  No  evidence  has  yet  been  produced  to  show  that  the 
version  was  ever  pubhcly  sanctioned  by  Convocation  or  by 
ParHament,  or  by  the  Privy  Council,  or  by  the  king.  It 
gained  its  currency,  partly,  it  may  have  been,  by  the  weight 

1  A  reprint  of  this  Preface  (price  one  penny)  is  issued  by  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge. 


200  The  Eiiglish  Bible. 

of  the  king's  name,  partly  by  the  personal  authority  of  the 
prelates  and  scholars  who  had  been  engaged  upon  it,  but 
still  more  by  its  own  intrinsic  superiority  over  its  rivals. 
Copies  of  the  '  whole  Bible  of  the  largest  volume  and  latest 
edition '  are  required  to  be  in  churches  by  the  Visitation 
Articles  of  Laud,  1622  (St.  David's),  1628  (London).  In 
the  Scotch  Canons  of  1636  it  is  said  still  more  distinctly 
that  'the  Bible  shall  be  of  the  translation  of  King  James' 
(cap.  16,  §  i).  .  .  .  The  printing  of  the  Bishops'  Bible 
was  at  once  stayed  when  the  new  version  was  definitely 
undertaken.  No  edition  is  given  in  the  Usts  later  than 
1606,  though  the  New  Testament  from  it  was  reprinted 
as  late  as  16 18  (or  1619).  So  far  ecclesiastical  influence 
naturally  reached.  But  it  was  otherwise  with  the  Genevan 
Version,  which  was  chiefly  confined  to  private  use.  This 
competed  with  the  King's  Bible  for  many  years,  and  it  was 
not  till  about  the  middle  of  the  century  that  it  was  finally 
displaced."  ^ 

On  the  other  question,  the  relation  between  the  Autho- 
rised Version  (so  called)  and  earlier  translations,  the  reader 
shall  judge  for  himself.  On  pages  202 — 205  are  given 
two  passages,  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New, 
respectively,  as  they  appear  in  the  most  important  of  our 
EngUsh  versions.  An  examination  of  these  specimens  will 
show  how  far  the  translators  of  1 6 1 1  were  indebted  to  their 
predecessors. 

In  that  part  of  the  Old  Testament  from  which  our 
specimen  is  taken  the  true  line  of  succession  begins  with 
Coverdale's  Bible.  The  three  versions  which  precede 
(those  of  Wycliffe,  Purvey,  and  the  Douai  Bible),  all  derived 
from  the  Ladn  Vulgate,  can  have  exercised  but  Httle  in- 
fluence on  our  present  translauon.  The  Douai  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  will  be  remembered,  was  not  published  until  16 10. 
}  Westcott,  History,  p.  123. 


Its  Relation  to  Pi^evioiis  Vei'sions.  201 

In  the  New  Testament,  on  the  other  hand,  the  eight 
versions  are  connected  together  by  strict  relationship.  It 
will  be  observed  that  Tyndale's  work  really  occupies  two 
columns,  the  first  of  these  containing  his  earliest  translation 
(1526),  the  third  his  last  revision,  which  was  incorporated 
in  the  Bible  of  "  Thomas  Matthew."  The  quotations  are 
made  from  the  earliest  editions  of  Coverdale's  Bible,  the 
Rhemish  Testament,  and  the  Authorised  Version ;  from  the 
second  edition  of  Matthew's  Bible,  and  of  the  Douai  Ver- 
sion;  from  the  Great  Bible  of  May,  1541,  the  Genevan 
Bible  of  1578,  and  the  Bishops'  Bible  of  1575.  The  ver- 
sions not  given  are  of  secondary  importance.  Tavern er 
does  not  materially  differ  from  Tyndale  and  Coverdale  ;  the 
Genevan  Bible  usually  contains  the  improvements  intro- 
duced into  the  Testament  of  1557  ;  and  Tomson's  revision 
can  hardly  be  regarded  as  a  distinct  work. 

The  passage  from  the  Old  Testament  (Isa.  liv.  11 — 17) 
is  one  which  most  will  confess  to  be  well  translated  in  our 
ordinary  Bibles.  One  or  two  points  of  interpretation  are 
still  undecided,  but  there  are,  perhaps,  not  a  dozen  words 
in  the  seven  verses  which  an  exact  translator  would  now 
find  it  necessary  to  change.  What  light,  then,  does  the 
comparison  of  versions  cast  upon  this  result  ?  The  passage 
contains  182  words,  of  which  about  86  have  remained 
unchanged  during  all  the  fluctuations  represented  by  the 
five  (or  six)  versions  given  above.  If  we  set  these  aside, 
and  consider  only  the  variable  element,  consisting  of  96 
words,  we  shall  find  on  comparison  that  in  more  than  60 
of  the  96  the  Authorised  Version  agrees  with  the  Genevan 
Bible,  whereas  its  agreement  with  the  Bishops'  Bible  does 
not  extend  to  more  than  twelve  out  of  the  same  number. 
Hence,  though  the  Bishops'  Bible  nominally  furnished  the 
basis  for  the  new  translation,  it  is  clear  that  the  Genevan 
exercised   a  much   more   powerful   influence.     Indeed,    a 


202  The  English  Bible. 


lllfe  ^11   ^^f  111  jl!EJl|111|l|^|il 

|ii,  i^^t^  §1  fill  If-  iiii  w-m 


^i^iif  :il|  II  lilt    |o.i    '^11  1^1?^-^ 


3J 


fl  >i*3"3      -SCO  i"^      TJIr'-irl'ri  „rt;'M  >Li''C«;      '^  "  ^  ^\  i.  -Li  '^ 


^.        a| 


«"C. 


^c-^o    «^i;  (u-c  ^i-ii 


be-' 


s  111  ".ii:  I    :  l?i1il    Ej  i    -1^  f  I  ill  cf 
|^«  :;iira||  ii|f  ^.||  ||3|  fill  Irriili 


t^.'S  3  h  3     rt„.-.        ^<u     «>J=^        u^;^       •£'2    "w     "«oii-5'£g 


-a.C. 


1^' 


Relation  to  Previous  Versioi7s.  203 

"^-M'-^^A^I  -siS ill's i  >>^i;^  i-:s-l  -s-lt  Wo 

W-"  _  Bj<  c:Sr3  *J  rt  ^j=      J^o"a--o      •"£'„>,    ^^S**"«      2^      c  c  «  i-  « 


2  1-=  is  «l^  -i-ist'F  Ills  ^1-1 1  iirss^si^- 

^ti      -Is^    II    -S&S^S     SoS.2  3    l^^'^'^       sI^eS-S^^ 

Op,„^  '^S         CSC.  iji2  CS       "CiicOi-  =:         D         <n„ 

'-S?S 

^^ 


i-H          r^>,    ,5c_;     ^.,lEvv3ii-^  c^-^-S  •52u^      ojviiJjS 

mMT3«>.rt     rt  <«^    2  v-g  «i5  §     -  oj  !*.£  «  t,    ■5.2^     ^4=^^-0, 

^  s.-tj-c-r-a  S2  ^  ti-o   .-g  o  >^c-5'£  i  i;  4)  =  M^  _5^Ec^ 

5  —  Ertrtrt-c:r3  3rt<u  >f^       2««i.'^c  «-.=  ^I^P« 

o  o|j||^sg.s^-t-1r:=  "sis 

^xii-o     -a  on  o      "  p,    -o  oc:  M  m^.S  ui'iOirtii      «  atn  E.iS  >  E 


i  5^ 


""i8  2|H&^.-i=4^||.|l"lli  "ill;  «T.roMl 


204  '^^^^  English  Bible, 


.-So 


o|&§L-s.-gl  ^^i^o^iiffis  -^^^s-g-ssil  II  i^^^ 

W2  s--  .,^  sr^ 2 ^'•n J^  c  r:-£  E "-1  s^  -^  s    ?  S  ^    r^  w'^  °  o^  ..    Co 

-|l  l&t  -p §»|J!|I  &!  -i^  2|  i  = ,  1  i  s|  f  :r.||  ?g  "||- 

sfK-^^  s-^-l  ^^^  111  IN  ill  I,"  II  11?" 

^-.-s^s  Is-'  |:535&  t|c  s?S|^;|s.d  %     121^ 

g!^tcr:tti:  t^HUl^^l  ^i-^rleO  ii  ^^i^ 

^i&isii-^^':!  imm^f^  itin.^'x^^ ^a .tx^ 


^i;1,li  %  f  lilLtli  lt||lii-:l  il  Jill 

rt-oc^oM     «  ^j=      ^3^=^E.H^      s      ^Swt,^      3-433     .^-|ii5  4)C 


rt  bo* 


>  2  E- P     }3^        J'r-2  0-5      fl      E  >x     ■5c^t:S<flfi      ^u     •«         3     "•  o, 
*°  jK^  rt  ^c  ""s  2  g«'«f'S  3  c"  *^y^  §  ".^  §  "  «  O  o-*".§  S  "tC     "  O  "  « 


Relation  to  Previous  Versions.  205 


g  1 11:1    ^o.|:|ii  1^1 

^  <c       v^    ^^ZL     .52.2  ii  ^^r.       '"'^rt       a^^       o         .Sc       3^     -Scu^ 

'2 ' 


o    - 


Sv'Sm.sS      SE  0^.2      S3     -g-      „^  ^      g-     .2^3  cs"      ISSgo 


g    .|si  II  .3.3^6  II  -oil  1^    ^1  1=^      I   JS 

^l«,.  ^  ^-S  t5^-5^  552  -c^-S  ««     ««  2^     «  =  ^  - 

CH^i--'5-£  ■  3  3  ^.^^%  bO  3  rt  3  s'^-'  0§  hj3^  ^  ".tl•- 
w><  ^^  a:r  .«  -  ^  «  •"  o  3  2  3  X^  ^  S  =  "5  «  S  3  ^  « 
c/)$5S-5-3  -^S  rt     --5^  >"^  bDo5  ^.S    -DC  3-:5     f.2^ 

rlil  iMil  IP  it. I  Ji««L 

s2^o~  j,.s  .s.s.s^  3"  i;s?s  »r^    a  s-a.    «.S^ 

jJ4=o  5                 i2  o  42  5  13  ;«-5     5  g  S-     2^-S-s 

•l^l  -g^  ^"^^SS"  -^^  o.2„  Sb.1.  «-S     ^^^S 

^•^^2^^"  -^1  2^||  18  g.^  -il     ^X  00     «^^^ 


«^    .3"'    ^3     2i    l-^^l 

=  ^2>>^         o^     ^-S-J   .     5-1        §i§     .2     fi-     ^-S.     3«-5« 

_2.S  >  S  o«      -  «^  J'  !2     :5iJ  «.^3     fa     ^5j     -Zv     ^  «  "  fe 


HI   VO 

CO 


^2:^^^ 


-111  iiiiil  °j  =iiril=i  mn% 


Si-c         <<T.  0.2         "^   ^        Irf'^ti-aii        j=j3>  3         (U"         4)3  ^i--3_c^ 

2   I  «    -"^       ^rt      2-.5-S^iJ      "^^  o>,o       o  ao      a.s       o2.-j2u-5> 


S-ll3l<^"2^1--^^^^-^i:5 


■5      4^ 


>»  ro--;  b  ■<»•  ^  "^  o  '-i 


2o6  The  E7iglish  Bible. 

glance  will  show  that  the  five  translations  divide  themselves 
into  two  classes — the  Bibles  of  Coverdale,  Cranmer,  and 
the  Bishops  standing  on  one  side,  the  Genevan  and  Autho- 
rised Version  on  the  other.  In  the  few  places  in  which 
the  Authorised  Version  differs  from  the  Genevan,  the 
change  (which  is  but  rarely  suggested  by  any  other  version) 
is  usually  for  the  better,  the  new  rendering  being  more 
literal  or  idiomatic,  better  in  style  or  rhythm. 

It  m.ust  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  any  one 
example  will  adequately  illustrate  the  character  of  our 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament.  Taking  a  chapter  from 
the  historical  books  (i  Kings  xix.),  we  find  that,  whilst 
thirty  or  forty  renderings  from  the  Genevan  Bible  were 
preferred  by  the  translators,  this  version  was  deserted  by 
them  twice  as  frequently;  they  depart  from  the  Bishops' 
Bible  on  an  average  four  times,  and  from  the  Genevan 
three  times,  in  every  verse,  and  many  of  the  renderings 
do  not  appear  to  be  suggested  by  any  earlier  version.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  section  to  which  we  have  often  referred 
(Numb.  xxiv.  15 — 24)  contains  very  little  that  is  not  found 
either  in  Tyndale  or  in  Coverdale,  or  in  the  Genevan 
Bible. 

It  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  remark  in  detail  on  the 
New  Testament  passages,  but  the  reader  will  find  it  an 
interesting  and  useful  occupation  to  trace  for  himself  the 
manner  in  which  the  structure  now  so  familiar  was  gradu- 
ally built  up.  In  earlier  chapters  we  have  pointed  out 
passages  which  have  been  retained  with  comparatively 
little  change,  in  one  version  after  another;  this  passage 
rather  shows  how  far  alteration  may  extend,  not  more 
than  one-third  of  the  words  having  remained  untouched. 
It  will  be  found  that  very  Httle  in  the  last  translation  of 
these  verses  is  absolutely  new.  The  translators  show  much 
tact  and  skill  in  selection,  combination,  and  arrangement, 


Estimate  of  the  Work.  207 

but  the  number  of  words  first  introduced  by  them  does  not 
amount  to  four  in  a  hundred.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
Genevan  and  Rhemish  versions  have  exercised  much 
greater  influence  than  the  Great  and  Bishops'  Bibles.  The 
Rhemish  Testament  was  not  even  named  in  the  instruc- 
tions furnished  to  the  translators,  but  it  has  left  its  mark  on 
every  page  of  their  work. 

An  inquiry  into  the  exact  relation  in  which  the 
Authorised  Version  stands  to  earlier  English  translations, 
to  the  various  foreign  versions  of  Scripture,  and  to  the  chief 
critical  authorities  of  the  time,  is  of  course  impossible  in 
these  pages.  For  more  detailed  information  the  reader 
is  referred  to  Prote-osor  Westcott's  most  valuable  work,^  so 
often  quoted  already.  By  an  analysis  of  passages  of  the 
translation  and  of  the  alternative  renderings  offered  in  the 
margin,  it  is  shown  that  the  authorities  most  frequently 
followed  by  our  translators  were  Beza  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment (both  for  text  and  for  interpretation),  and  in  the  Old 
the  Latin  versions  of  Junius  and  Tremellius,  Miinster,  Leo 
Juda,  and  Pagninus.  The  influence  of  the  Vulgate  was 
exercised  mainly  through  the  Rhemish  version. 

When  all  critical  helps  and  sources  of  influence  have 
been  taken  into  account,  the  student  whose  analysis  has 
been  most  complete  will  find  most  to  admire  in  the  work 
that  the  translation  or  revision  of  1607 — 161 1  has  given  us. 
The  praise  he  will  award  to  the  revisers  will  not  be  indis- 
criminate eulogy.  He  wiU  discover  that  very  much  that 
they  have  transmitted  to  us  was  inherited  by  them  from 
others ;  the  execution  of  difl"erent  parts  of  the  work  will 
prove  to  be  unequal — the  Epistles,  for  example,  standing 
far  below  the  Pentateuch  in  accuracy  and  felicity  of  render- 
ing ;  many  flaws  and  inconsistencies  will  reveal  themselves  ; 
occasionally  it  will  be  found  that  better  renderings  have  been 
*  History  of  the  English  Bible  (2nd  edit.),  pp.  267 — 289. 


2o8  T]ie  Ensrlish  Bible. 


i>' 


deliberately  laid  aside  and  worse  preferred :  but,  notwith- 
standing, almost  every  paragraph  will  bear  testimony  to  the 
tact,  care,  diligence,  and  faithfulness  of  the  men  to  whom, 
in  God's  providence,  we  owe  the  version  of  the  Scriptures 
which  has  come  down  to  us  consecrated  by  the  associations 
of  250  years. 

If  we  compare  one  of  our  modern  Bibles  with  a  copy  of 
the  first  edition,  we  find  that  the  differences  are  by  no  means 
few  or  slight.  There  is  a  history  of  the  text  which  it  is  very 
interesting  to  trace.  In  Dr.  Scrivener's  Preface  to  the  Cam- 
bridge Paragraph  Bible,  which  embodies  the  results  of  many 
years  of  labour,  the  reader  will  find  this  history  carefully 
and  fully  narrated.  We  content  ourselves  with  calling  atten- 
tion to  the  most  important  facts.  The  first  issue  of  the 
present  version  was  a  folio  volume  (printed  in  black-letter), 
bearing  date  161 1.  It  has  recently  been  discovered  by  Mr. 
Fry  and  Dr.  Scrivener  that  two  editions  were  issued  in  that 
year,  and  it  is  not  yet  decided  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  which 
edition  can  claim  to  be  the  first.  In  1833  the  delegates  of  the 
Oxford  University  Press  published  a  reprint  of  the  Bible  of 
161 1,  and  it  is  by  means  of  this  volume  that  the  peculiarities 
of  the  earliest  editions  can  most  conveniently  be  studied. 
Probably  this  reprint  represents  the  second,  not  the  first 
issue  of  the  year.  Both  issues  are  incorrectly  printed ;  the 
earlier,  for  example,  reads  in  Matt.  xxvi.  36,  "  Then  cometh 
Judas  ;"  whilst  in  the  later,  twenty  words  of  Exod.  xiv.  10 
are  given  twice  over.  There  are  also  differences  of  text 
which  are  not  misprints.  In  Matt.  xiii.  45,  for  example,  the 
earlier  edition  reads  "  good,"  the  later  "  goodly "  (pearls) 
in  Acts  iv.  27  the  two  editions  have  "the"  and  "thy" 
(Holy  Child)  ;  and  in  i  Peter  i.  22  they  read  "your  souls" 
and  "yourselves."  Many  copies  of  each  issue  are  still 
preserved.  In  16 12  appeared  an  octavo  edition,  in  Roman 
type;  other  editions  quickly  followed,  in  1613,  1617  (black- 


Alterations  in  Later  Editions.  209 

letter),  and  1616  (Roman).  The  earliest  edition  in  which 
the  Apocryphal  books  are  omitted  is  that  of  1629  (London). 
In  the  same  year  appeared  the  first  Cambridge  edition,  a 
work  of  considerable  importance.  Some  revision  and  cor- 
rection had  been  attempted  in  16 16,  but  the  two  Cambridge 
books  of  1629  and  1638  were  the  first  in  which  the  text 
was  examined  with  care  and  accurately  printed.  In  many 
instances  the  changes  introduced  in  these  two  editions  were 
clear  improvements,  and  as  such  they  have  maintained  their 
ground.  Thus  in  i  John  v.  12  the  words  "of  God"  were 
omitted  until  1629,  and  in  i  Tim.  i.  4  the  word  "godly" 
until  1638;  on  the  other  hand,  in  Matt.  xii.  23  the  edition 
of  1638  led  all  subsequent  editions  into  error  by  the  inser- 
tion of  "  not "  in  the  question,  "  Is  this  the  son  of  David  ?  " 
The  amount  of  coiTection  introduced  was  of  course  rela- 
tively very  small  (perhaps  thirty  changes  in  all  being  made 
in  Genesis,  for  instance,  and  six  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans) ;  but,  to  say  nothing  of  the  correction  of  mis- 
prints, the  examples  just  quoted  are  sufficient  to  show  the 
value  of  the  revision. 

The  only  other  editions  which  we  can  mention  particu- 
larly are  three  which  have  exerted  great  influence  on  all 
modern  Bibles.  Bishop  Lloyd's  Bible  (London,  1701)  is 
remarkable  as  being  the  first  that  contains  the  marginal 
dates,  mostly  derived  from  Archbishop  Ussher.  In  the 
Cambridge  Bible  of  1762,  edited  by  Dr.  Paris,  and  the 
Oxford  edition  of  1769,  edited  by  Dr.  Blayney  (afterwards 
Professor  of  Hebrew),  considerable  labour  was  expended  in 
the  effort  to  improve  the  ordinary  editions.  These  editors 
sought  to  apply  with  greater  consistency  the  principle  of 
denoting  additions  to  the  original  text  by  italic  type,  sub- 
stituted ordinary  forms  of  words  for  such  as  had,  in  their 
opinion,  become  obsolete,  and  made  very  large  additions  to 
the  number  of  marginal  references,  which  in  our  present 
o 


2IO  The  English  Bible. 


Bibles  are  said  to  be  seven  times  as  numerous  as  in  the 
edition  of  1611.  The  chief  increase  in  the  marginal  notes 
also  is  due  to  Dr.  Paris  and  Dr.  Blayney.  These  notes  are 
an  essential  characteristic  of  the  Authorised  Version,  though 
by  a  wise  rule  restricted  within  very  narrow  limits,  and 
therefore  rendered  wholly  unlike  the  commentary  with 
which  Matthew's,  the  Genevan,  and  the  Bishops'  Bibles 
had  been  furnished.  It  has  been  computed  that  8,418 
marginal  notes  were  inserted  by  the  original  translators, 
that  35  in  all  were  added  between  161 1  and  1762,  383 
more  by  Dr.  Paris,  76  only  by  Dr.  Blayney.  Unhappily, 
each  of  these  editions  was  disfigured  by  errors,  which  main- 
tained their  place  in  the  text  until  a  very  recent  period. 

Some  of  the  differences  in  text  between  various  editions 
of  the  Authorised  Version  have  excited  so  much  attention  as 
to  call  for  special  notice.  In  Acts  vi.  3,  "ye  may  appoint " 
(for  "we")  found  its  way  into  many  editions  between  1638 
and  1682 ;  in  i  Tim.  iv.  16,  "thy  doctrine  "  took  the  place 
of  "the  doctrine  "  between  1629  and  1769  ;  in  2  Cor.  xii.  2, 
"  about "  was  substituted  for  "  above  "  by  Dr.  Blayney : 
"unto  me"  for  "under  me"  in  Ps.  xviii.  47,  and  "abide" 
for  "abide  still"  in  Rom.  xi.  23,  are  mistakes  from  the  same 
source.  Some  editions  have  owed  their  celebrity  to  faults 
more  or  less  serious,  as  the  "  Vinegar  Bible  "  (Oxford, 
1 7 17),  so  called  from  a  misprint  of  vinegar  for  vineyard  in 
the  heading  of  the  page  containing  Luke  xx.  The  "  Pearl 
Bible"  of  1653,  and  other  editions  of  about  the  same  date, 
some  imported  from  abroad,  some  from  the  press  of  the 
privileged  printers,  are  notorious  for  scandalous  blunders, 
such  as  righteousness  for  unrighteousness  (Rom.  vi.  13). 
In  1632  Laud  inflicted  a  fine  of  ^£"300  on  the  king's  printers 
for  an  edition  of  the  Bible  in  which  "  not "  was  omitted  in 
the  Seventh  Commandment.  Negligence  gross  as  this 
belonged  to  an  unsettled  age,  but  as  late  as  1830  Bibles 


Curious  Misprints.  21 1 

were  often  printed  v\'ith  serious  want  of  accuracy.  The  last 
forty  years  have  witnessed  a  considerable  improvement,  and 
recent  editions  have  left  little  to  be  desired.  The  Cambridge 
Paragraph  Bible,  edited  by  Dr.  Scrivener,  is  the  classic 
edition  of  the  Authorised  Version,  and  is  a  monument  of 
minute  accuracy  and  unsparing  labour. 

Many  points  of  interest  the  limits  of  our  space  compel 
us  to  pass  over  entirely.  Such  are  the  use  of  italics  in  our 
Bibles,  the  punctuation,  the  division  of  the  text  into  para- 
graphs ;  also  the  important  questions  relating  to  peculiar 
words  and  forms  of  words,  changes  in  spelling,  &c.^  The 
headings  of  chapters  must  not  be  dismissed  without  a  word, 
especially  as  they  proceed  from  the  hands  of  the  original 
translators.  There  are,  Dr.  Scrivener  informs  us,^  only 
twelve  variations  between  our  present  headings  and  those 
of  161 1,  "the  only  one  of  importance  being  that  prefixed 
to  Psalm  cxlix.,"  where  "  that  power  which  he  hath  given  to 
the  Church  to  rule  the  consciences  of  men  "  is  discreetly 
curtailed  in  the  edition  of  1762  by  the  omission  of  the 
last  six  words,  that  of  1769  further  amending  by  substituting 
*'his  saints^' for  "the  church,"  which  latter  some  modem 
Bibles  still  retain. 

1  See  The  Bible  Word-book,  by  Eastwood  and  Wright ;  Bible- 
English,  by  the  Rev.  T.  L.  O.  Davies  ;  and  the  papers  on  Bible- Words 
in  the  Bible  Educator. 

2  Preface  to  Paragraph  Bible,  p.  Ixv. 


O    2 


CHAPTER  XV. 

LATER    HISTORY    OF   THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

The  revision  of  1611  was  not  at  once  received  with  general 
favour.  Romanists  complained  (as  Romanists  still  com- 
plain) of  unfairness  in  the  translators'  treatment  of  con- 
troverted passages ;  and  Puritans  clung  tenaciously  to  the 
translation  and  commentary  furnished  in  the  Genevan 
Bible.  On  the  whole,  however,  the  opposition  seems  to 
have  been  but  faint;  and  though  for  half  a  century  the 
rival  versions  circulated  side  by  side,  the  latter  steadily 
gained  ground.  It  could  not  altogether  escape  the  perils 
of  those  troublous  times.  In  1652  the  Long  Parliament 
made  an  order  that  a  Bill  should  be  brought  in  for  a  new 
translation  of  the  Bible,  and  four  years  later  the  House 
directed  "that  it  be  referred  to  a  committee  to  send  for 
and  advise  with  Dr.  Walton,  Mr.  Hughes,  Mr.  Castle,  Mr. 
Clerk,  Mr.  Poulk,^  Dr.  Cudworth,  and  such  as  they  should 
think  fit,  and  to  consider  of  the  translations  and  impres- 
sions of  the  Bible,  and  to  offer  their  opinions  therein."^ 
The  care  of  this  business  was  especially  commended  to 
Whitelocke,  and  at  his  house  in  Chelsea  the  committee  often 
met,  "  and  had  the  most  learned  men  in  the  Oriental 
tongues  to  consult  with  on  this  great  business ;  and  divers 
excellent  and  learned  observations  of  some  mistakes  in  the 
translations  of  the  Bible  in  English,  which  yet  was  agreed 

1  Probably    Samuel   Clark    and    Matthew    Poole.     See   Westcott, 
History,  p.  124. 

2  Lewis,  History  of  Translatiofis,  p.  354. 


The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  Revised.        213 

to  be  the  best  of  any  translation  in  the  world."  "  I  took 
pains  in  it,"  adds  Whitelocke,  "but  it  became  fruitless  by 
the  Parliament's  dissolution." 

About  the  same  time  appeared  the  only  work  of  that 
age  in  which  any  detailed  criticism  of  the  Authorised 
Version  was  attempted.^  The  author,  Dr.  Gell,  who  had 
been  chaplain  to  Archbishop  Abbot,  complains  that  the 
last  translation  is  wrested  and  partial,  speaking  the  language 
of  one  sect  or  party  (the  Calvinistic),  and  that  the  better 
renderings  have  usually  been  relegated  to  the  margin. 
Many  of  his  criticisms  are  of  little  worth,  but  in  some 
instances  (as  in  Gal.  v.  17)  he  exposes  serious  mistakes. 

Shortly  after  the  Restoration,  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  once  more  underwent  revision,  and  in  1662  was 
issued  in  its  present  form.  The  changes  which  were  made 
at  once  declared  and  estabHshed  the  supremacy  of  the  last 
translation  of  the  Scriptures.  As  we  have  already  seen, 
the  Psalter  of  the  Great  Bible  was  left  undisturbed,  but  in 
the  Epistles  and  Gospels,  and  in  all  the  longer  portions 
of  Scripture  which  are  read  in  the  occasional  services  (as 
I  Cor.  XV.  20 — 58;  Acts  vi.  2 — 7;  xx.  17 — 35,  &c.),  the 
version  of  161 1  was  uniformly  adopted.  The  Psalms 
which  are  interspersed  amongst  the  various  services  naturally 
agree  in  almost  every  point  with  the  Prayer-book  Psalter. 
Perhaps  the  only  variations  which  exist  are  the  following : 
xcviii.  9  {is  come)^  Ixvii.  5  {yea)^  xli.  i  (six  words  in  the 
former  part  of  the  verse),  cxxviii.  2  {labour)^  Ixxi.  5  {alway 
be),  xxxix.  11  {by  means),  xc.  12  (O  teach),  cxvi.  4  {found, 
called),  li.  9  {away).  The  translations  of  the  Benedicite, 
Benedictiis,  Magnificat,  the  Offertory  sentences,  and  the 
"  Comfortable  Words  "  in  the  Communion  Service,  stand 
by  themselves,  agreeing  in  many  renderings  with  some  of 

^  An  Essay  toward  the  Ajttendment  of  the  last  English  Translation  of 
the  Bible,  by  Robert  Gell  (London,  1659). 


214  ^-^^  English  Bible. 

the  older  versions  (especially  the  Great  Bible),  but  in  many- 
others  with  none.  The  Benedicite,  for  example,  agrees 
almost  verbally  with  the  Great  Bible  in  the  first  part  of 
each  verse ;  but  where  the  Great  Bible  has  speak  good  of 
and  set  him  up,  we  find  bless  ye  and  7nagnify  him  in  the 
Prayer  Book.  The  verses  from  Job  xiv.  in  the  Burial 
Service  and  from  Deut.  xxvii.  in  the  Commination  Service 
come  very  near  the  Great  Bible.  The  translation  of  Rev. 
xiv.  13  is  pecuhar  to  the  Prayer  Book,  and  the  same  may 
be  said  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Ten  Commandments. 
Other  passages  agree  with  the  Authorised  Version,  with  a 
few  slight  variations,  such  as  the  insertion  of  biLt  in  i  John 
i.  9,  to  be  in  Luke  ii.  32,  and  the  reading  acceptable  unto  in 
I  Tim.  ii.  3.  Now  and  then  the  language  of  a  prayer 
or  exhortation  recalls  ati  old  or  peculiar  rendering  of  a 
passage  of  Scripture,  as  "  not  considering  the  Lord's  body  " 
(i  Cor.  xi.  29),  "pastors  and  doctors^'  (Eph.  iv.  11),  and 
the  quotation  from  Matt:  xxv.  34  in  the  Burial  Service. 
These  details  will  show  that  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
whilst  it  enshrines  fragments  of  our  various  English  ver- 
sions, has  largely  contributed  to  establish  and  render 
familiar  the  translation  of  161 1. 

An  instructive  volume  might  be  written  on  the  various 
schemes  of  revision  which  have  been  proposed  since  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century.  It  would  answer  no  good 
end,  however,  to  give  a  mere  list  of  names  and  works ;  and 
to  enter  into  any  useful  detail  would  require  as  many  pages 
as  we  can  command  Hues.  In  the  third  volume  of  Smith's 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible  (^1^.  1,678 — 1,682)  the  reader  will  find 
a  singularly  interesting  account  of  the  controversy,  written  by 
the  Rev.  Professor  Plumptre.  The  same  article  also  con- 
tains a  brief  notice  of  the  attempts  which  Lowth,  Geddes, 
Blayney,  Newcome,  and  other  scholars  have  made  to  im- 
prove the  translations  of  particular  books  of  Scripture. 


Revhion  Committee  appointed.  215 

In  1856  the  subject  of  revision  was  brought  by  Professor 
Selwyn  before  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation  of  the 
Province  of  Canterbury,  but  his  proposals  met  with  Uttle 
favour.  The  desirableness  of  the  appointment  of  a  Royal 
Commission  was  urged  upon  the  House  of  Commons,  but 
without  effect.  Meanwhile  the  general  interest  in  Biblical 
studies  was  continually  advancing.  The  merits  of  our  trans- 
lation, on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the  other  the  amount  of 
improvement  absolutely  required,  became  more  fully  under- 
stood from  year  to  year.  Some  specimens  of  a  revised 
version  by  five  clergymen  (the  present  Bishops  of  Gloucester 
and  Salisbury,  the  late  Dean  Alford,  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Humphry, 
and  Dr.  Barrow),  published  about  this  time,  showed  that 
reverent  regard  for  the  Authorised  Version  might  coexist 
with  an  earnest  desire  for  its  improvement,  and  helped  to 
prepare  the  way  for  the  remarkable  change  in  public  opinion 
which  has  recently  taken  place. 

In  February,  1870,  both  Houses  of  the  Convocation  of 
Canterbury  unanimously  passed  a  resolution  to  the  following 
effect : — "  That  a  Committee  of  both  Houses  be  appointed, 
with  power  to  confer  with  any  Committee  that  may  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  Convocation  of  the  Northern  Province,  to 
report  upon  the  desirableness  of  a  revision  of  the  Authorised 
Version  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  whether  by  mar- 
ginal notes  or  otherwise,  in  all  those  passages  where  plain 
and  clear  errors,  whether  in  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  text  origi- 
nally adopted  by  the  translators,  or  in  the  translation  made 
from  the  same,  shall,  on  due  investigation,  be  found  to  exist." 
The  mover  and  seconder  of  the  resolution  in  the  Upper 
House  (the  late  Bishop  of  Winchester  and  the  Bishop  of 
Gloucester  and  Bristol)  had  limited  their  proposal  to  the 
New  Testament,  but  on  the  motion  of  the  Bishop  of  Llan- 
daff  it  was  at  once  agreed  to  extend  the  inquiry  so  as  to 
include  the  whole  Bible.    Eight  members  of  the  Upper  and 


2i6  The  English  Bible. 

sixteen  of  the  Lower  House  were  appointed  the  Committee 
of  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury.  The  Northern  Province 
dechned  to  co-operate  with  the  Southern  in  this  inquiry,  on 
the  ground  that  the  time  was  not  favourable  for  revision,  and 
that  the  risk  was  greater  than  the  probable  gain.  Early  in 
May  the  Committee  presented  a  report  recommending  that 
a  revision  of  the  Authorised  Version  of  the  Holy  Scriptures 
should  be  undertaken,  on  the  principle  of  departing  as  little 
as  possible  from  the  general  style  and  language  of  the  exist- 
ing version,  and  "  that  Convocation  should  nominate  a  body 
of  its  own  members  to  undertake  the  work  of  revision,  who 
shall  be  at  liberty  to  invite  the  co-operation  of  any  eminent 
for  scholarship,  to  whatever  nation  or  religious  body  they 
belong."  A  Committee  was  accordingly  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  eight  members  of  each  house — viz..  Dr.  S.  Wilber- 
force,  Bishop  of  Winchester ;  Dr.  C.  Thirlwall,  Bishop  of  St. 
David's  ;  Dr.  A.  OUivant,  Bishop  of  Llandaff ;  Dr.  C.  J. 
Ellicott,  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol ;  Dr.  G.  Moberly, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury;  Dr.  E.  H.  Browne,  Bishop  of  Ely 
(now  Bishop  of  Winchester) ;  Dr.  C.  Wordsworth,  Bishop 
of  Lincoln ;  Dr.  A.  C.  Hervey,  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells ; 
Dr.  E.  H.  Bickersteth,  Prolocutor  of  the  Lower  House  of 
Convocation,  now  Dean  of  Lichfield  ;  Dr.  H.  Alford,  Dean 
of  Canterbury ;  Dr.  A.  P.  Stanley,  Dean  of  Westminster ; 
Dr.  H.  J.  Rose,  Archdeacon  of  Bedford ;  Dr.  W.  Selwyn, 
Canon  of  Ely  and  Lady  Margaret  Professor  of  Divinity, 
Cambridge ;  Dr.  J.  W.  Blakesley,  Canon  of  Canterbury 
(now  Dean  of  Lincoln) ;  Dr.  J.  Jebb,  Canon  of  Hereford ; 
and  Dr.  W.  Kay,  late  Principal  of  Bishop's  College,  Calcutta. 
This  Committee  held  its  first  meeting  on  the  25th  of  May. 
It  was  then  resolved  that  two  companies  should  be  formed  for 
the  revision  of  the  Authorised  Version  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New  Testament  respectively ;  that  the  company  for 
the  revision  of  the  Authorised  Version  of  the  Old  Testament 


TJie  Old  Testament  Company,  217 

should  consist  of  the  Bishops  of  St.  David's,  Llandaff,  Ely, 
Lincoln,  and  Bath  and  Wells,  Archdeacon  Rose,  Professor 
Selwyn,  Canon  Jebb,  and  Dr.  Kay,  together  with  eighteen 
scholars  and  divines,  who  should  be  invited  to  join  in  the 
work ;  and  that  the  company  for  the  revision  of  the  Author- 
ised Version  of  the  New  Testament  should  consist  of  the 
Bishops  of  Winchester,  Gloucester  and  Bristol,  and  Salisbury, 
the  Prolocutor,  the  Deans  of  Canterbury  and  Westminster, 
and  Canon  Blakesley,  together  with  nineteen  invited  scholars 
and  divines. 

An  invitation  to  join  the  Old  Testament  Company  was 
sent  to  Dr.  W.  L.  Alexander,  Professor  of  Theology,  Con- 
gregational Church  Hall,  Edinburgh ;  Mr.  T.  Chenery,  Lord 
Almoner's  Professor  of  Arabic,  Oxford ;  the  Rev.  F.  C. 
Cook,  Canon  of  Exeter ;  Dr.  A,  B.  Davidson,  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  Free  Church  College,  Edinburgh;  Dr.  B.  Davies, 
Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Baptist  College,  Regent's  Park ; 
Dr.  P.  Fairbairn,  Principal  of  the  Free  Church  College, 
Glasgow ;  Dr.  F.  Field  (editor  of  the  Septuagint,  Origen's 
Hexapla,  &c.) ;  Dr.  Ginsburg  (editor  of  Canticles,  Ecclesi- 
astes,  &c.);  Dr.  F.  W.  Gotch,  Principal  of  the  Baptist 
College,  Bristol;  Rev.  B.  Harrison,  Archdeacon  of  Maid- 
stone ;  Rev.  S.  Leathes,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  King's 
College,  London ;  Rev.  J.  McGill,  Professor  of  Oriental 
Languages,  St.  Andrew's ;  Dr.  R.  Payne  Smith,  Regius  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity,  Oxford  (now  Dean  of  Canterbury) ;  Dr. 
J.  J.  S.  Perowne,  Canon  of  Llandaff,  and  now  Hulsean 
Professor  of  Divinity,  Cambridge  ;  Dr.  E.  H.  Plumptre, 
Professor  of  the  Exegesis  of  the  New  Testament,  King's 
College,  London;  Dr.  E.  B.  Pusey,  Regius  Professor  of 
Hebrew,  Oxford ;  Dr.  W.  Wright,  now  Professor  of  Arabic, 
Cambridge ;  Mr.  W.  A.  Wright,  Librarian  (now  Bursar)  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

An  invitation  to  join  the  New  Testament  Company  was 


2i8  TJie  English  Bible, 

sent  to  Dr.  R.  C.  Trench,  Archbishop  of  DubHn;  Dr.  J. 
Angus,  President  of  the  Baptist  College,  Regent's  Park ; 
Dr.  J.  Eadie,  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  and  Exegesis 
to  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  Scotland;  Dr.  F.  J.  A. 
Hort,  now  Fellow  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge ;  Rev. 
W.  G.  Humphry,  Prebendary  of  St.  Paul's;  Dr.  B.  H. 
Kennedy,  Canon  of  Ely,  and  Regius  Professor  of  Greek, 
Cambridge ;  Dr.  W.  Lee,  Archdeacon  of  Dublin,  and  Lec- 
turer in  Divinity ;  Dr.  J.  B.  Lightfoot,  now  Lady  Margaret 
Professor  of  Divinity,  Cambridge,  and  Canon  of  St.  Paul's  ; 
Dr.  W.  Milligan,  Professor  of  Divinity,  Aberdeen;  Dr.  W. 
F.  Moulton,  Professor  of  Classics,  Wesleyan  College,  Rich- 
mond ;  Dr.  J.  H.  Newman,  formerly  Rector  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  University,  DubUn;  Dr.  S.  Newth,  Professor  of 
Classics  (now  Principal),  New  College,  London ;  Dr.  A. 
Roberts,  now  Professor  of  Humanity,  St.  Andrews ;  Dr.  G. 
Vance  Smith  (joint  author  of  a  Revised  Translation  of  the 
Scriptures);  Dr.  R.  Scott,  then  Master  of  Balliol  College, 
Oxford,  and  Professor  of  Exegesis,  now  Dean  of  Rochester ; 
Dr.  F.  H.  Scrivener  (editor  of  the  Cambridge  Paragraph 
Bible,  Codex  Bezce,  &c.) ;  Dr.  S.  P.  Tregelles  (editor  of  the 
Greek  Testament) ;  Dr.  C.  J.  Vaughan,  Master  of  the 
Temple ;  and  Dr.  B.  F.  Westcott,  Canon  of  Peterborough, 
now  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  Cambridge. 

At  the  same  meeting  of  the  Committee  it  was  further 
resolved : — 

I.  That  the  general  principles  to  be  followed  by  both 
companies  be  as  follows  : — 

1.  To  introduce  as  few  alterations  as  possible  into  the 
text  of  the  Authorised  Version  consistently  with  faithfulness. 

2.  To  limit,  as  far  as  possible,  the  expression  of  such 
alterations  to  the  language  of  the  Authorised  and  earlier 
English  Versions. 

3.  Each  company  to  go  twice  over  the  portion  to  be 


Rules  for  the  Revision.  219 

revised,  once  provisionally,  the  second  time  finally,  and  on 
principles  of  voting  as  hereinafter  is  provided. 

4.  That  the  text  to  be  adopted  be  that  for  which  the 
evidence  is  decidedly  preponderating;  and  that  when  the 
text  so  adopted  differs  from  that  from  which  the  Authorised 
Version  was  made,  the  alteration  be  indicated  in  the 
margin. 

5.  To  make  or  retain  no  change  in  the  text  on  the 
second  final  revision  by  each  company,  except  two-thirds 
of  those  present  approve  of  the  same,  but  on  the  first  revi- 
sion to  decide  by  simple  majorities. 

6.  In  every  case  of  proposed  alteration  that  may  have 
given  rise  to  discussion,  to  defer  the  voting  thereupon  till 
the  next  meeting,  whensoever  the  same  shall  be  required  by 
one-third  of  those  present  at  the  meeting,  such  intended 
vote  to  be  announced  in  the  notice  of  the  next  meeting. 

7.  To  revise  the  headings  of  chapters,  pages,  paragraphs, 
italics,  and  punctuation. 

8.  To  refer,  on  the  part  of  each  company,  when  con- 
sidered desirable,  to  divines,  scholars,  and  literary  men, 
whether  at  home  or  abroad,  for  their  opinions. 

II.  That  the  work  of  each  company  be  communicated 
to  the  other  as  it  is  completed,  in  order  that  there  may  be  as 
little  deviation  from  uniformity  in  language  as  possible. 

III.  That  the  special  or  bye-rules  for  each  company  be 
as  follows : — 

1.  To  make  all  corrections  in  writing  previous  to  the 
meeting. 

2.  To  place  all  the  corrections  due  to  textual  considera- 
tions on  the  left-hand  margin,  and  all  other  corrections  on 
the  right-hand  margin. 

3.  To  transmit  to  the  chairman,  in  case  of  being  unable 
to  attend,  the  corrections  proposed  in  the  portion  agreed 
upon  for  consideration. 


220  The  English  Bible. 


'^3' 


Of  the  scholars  named  above,  Canon  Cook,  Dr.  Piisey, 
and  Dr.  Newman  dedined  to  take  part  in  the  work.  Dr. 
Wright,  who  at  the  time  was  compelled  to  decline  the  invi- 
tation, has  now  joined  the  Old  Testament  Company.  The 
first  meeting  of  the  New  Testament  Company  took  place  on 
June  2  2,  1870  ;  before  entering  on  the  work  of  revision  many 
members  of  the  Company  joined  in  the  Holy  Communion, 
in  Henry  VII.'s  Chapel,  Westminster  Abbey.  The  Old  Testa- 
ment Company  met  for  the  first  time  on  the  30th  of  June. 

Several  changes  have  taken  place  in  the  composition  of 
the  companies.  The  Old  Testament  Company  has  lost 
through  death  Bishop  Thirlwall,  Archdeacon  Rose,  Canon 
Selwyn,  Professor  McGill,  Professor  Fairbairn,  and  Professor 
Davies  (also  Dr.  Weir,  mentioned  below) ;  and  by  resignation 
the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  Professor  Plumptre,  and  Canon  Jebb. 
The  following  new  members  have  been  added  : — Mr.  R.  N. 
Bensly,  Fellow  and  Hebrew  Lecturer,  Caius  College,  Cam- 
bridge ;  Rev.  J.  Birrell,  Professor  of  Oriental  Languages,  St. 
Andrews  ;  Dr.  F.  Chance  (Editor  of  a  Commentary  on  Job); 
Rev.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  Fellow  and  Hebrew  Lecturer^  Balliol 
College,  Oxford  ;  Mr.  S.  R.  Driver,  Tutor  of  New  College, 
Oxford ;  Dr.  G.  Douglas,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  Free  Church 
College,  Glasgow;  Rev.  C.  J.  EUiott,  late  Fellow  of  St. 
Catharine's  College,  Cambridge;  Rev.  J.  D.  Geden,  Pro- 
fessor of  Hebrew,  Wesleyan  College,  Didsbury ;  Rev.  J.  R. 
Lumby,  Fellow  of  St.  Catharine's  College,  Cambridge ;  Rev. 
A.  H.  Sayce,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford ; 
Rev.  W.  R.  Smith,  Professor  of  Hebrew,  Free  Church 
College,  Aberdeen;  Dr.  D.  H.  Weir,  Professor  of  Oriental 
Languages,  Glasgow. 

Four  members  of  the  New  Testament  Company  have 
been  removed  by  death — Dean  Alford,  the  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester, Dr.  Eadie,  and  Dr.  Tregelles  (who  was  prevented 
by  ill  health  from  taking  any  part  in  the  work).    Three  mem- 


American  Co-operation.  221 

bers  were  added  shortly  after  the  commencement  of  the 
work — Dr.  David  Brown,  Professor  of  Divinity  and  Principal, 
Free  Church  College,  Aberdeen  ;  Dr.  C.  Merivale,  Dean  of 
Ely ;  and  Dr.  C  Wordsworth,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews.  Dr. 
Merivale  resigned  his  place  as  a  reviser  in  187 1.  In  1873, 
the  Rev.  Edwin  Palmer,  Professor  of  Latin,  Oxford,  became 
a  member  of  the  company,  which  now  numbers  twenty-four 
members.  The  Bishop  of  Winchester  is  the  Chairman  of 
the  Old  Testament  Company,  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and 
Bristol  of  the  New.  The  former  usually  meets  for  a  session 
of  ten  days  five  times  in  the  year ;  the  latter  for  a  session  of 
four  days  every  month,  except  August  and  September. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  work  in  England, 
the  Committee  of  Convocation  sought  the  co-operation  of 
American  scholars.  The  negotiations  were  conducted  mainly 
through  an  eminent  American  Professor,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff, 
of  New  York.  Through  his  exertions  two  companies  of 
revisers,  "men  of  ability,  experience,  and  reputation  in 
Biblical  learning  and  criticism,"  and  fairly  representing  "  the 
leading  churches  and  theological  institutions  "  of  the  United 
States,  were  formed  before  the  close  of  187 1.  The  following 
list  of  names  is  taken  from  an  interesting  account  of  the 
revision  written  by  Dr.  Schaff: — 

THE   OLD   TESTAMENT   COMPANY. 

Dr.  T.  J.  Conant  (Baptist),  Brooklyn,  New  York. 
Dr.  E.  Day  (Congregationalist),  New  Haven,  Conn. 
Dr.  J.  De  Witt  (Reformed),  New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey. 
Dr.  W.  H.  Green  (Presbyterian),  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 
Dr.  G.  E.  Hare  (Episcopalian),  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 
Dr.  C.  P.  Krauth  (Lutheran),  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 
Dr.  J.  Packard  (Episcopalian),  Fairfax,  Virginia. 
Dr.  C.  E.  Stowe  (Congregationalist),  Cambridge,  Mass. 
Dr.  J.  Strong  (Methodist),  Madison,  New  Jersey. 
Dr.  C.  V.  A.  Van  Dyck  ^  (Missionary),  Beyrout,  Syria. 
Dr.  T.  Lewis  (Reformed),  Schenectady,  New  York. 
1  Corresponding  member. 


222  The  Enzlish  Bible. 


NEW   TESTAMENT   COMPANY. 


Bishop  Lee  (Episcopalian),  Wilmington,  Delaware. 

Dr.  E.  Abbott  (Unitarian),  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Dr.  G.  R.  Crooks  (Methodist),  New  York. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Hackett  (Baptist),  Rochester,  New  York. 

Dr.  J.  Hadley  (Congregationalist),  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Dr.  C.  Hodge  (Presbyterian),  Princeton,  New  Jersey. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Kendrick  (Baptist),  Rochester,  New  York. 

Dr.  M.  B.  Riddle  (Reformed),  Hartford,  Conn. 

Dr.  C.  Short  (Episcopalian),  New  York. 

Dr.  H.  B.  Smith  (Presbyterian),  New  York. 

Dr.  J.  H.  Thayer  (Congregationalist),  Andover,  Mass. 

Dr.  W.  F.  Warren  (Methodist),  Boston,  Mass. 

Dr.  E,  A.  Washburn  (Episcopalian),  New  York. 

Dr.  T.  D.  Woolsey  (Congregationalist),  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Dr.  P.  Schaflf  (Presbyterian),  New  York. 

To  the  Old  Testament  Company  have  since  been  added 
Dr.  C.  A.  Aiken,  of  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  Dr.  C.  M. 
Mead,  Andover,  Mass.  ;  Dr.  H.  Osgood,  Flushing,  Long 
Island.  To  the  New  Testament  Company  (which  has  lost 
from  its  ranks  Dr.  Crooks,  Dr.  Hadley,  Dr.  Smith,  and  Dr. 
Warren)  have  been  added  four  members.  Dr.  J.  K.  Burr, 
Madison,  New  Jersey ;  Professor  T.  Chase,  Haverford 
College,  Pennsylvania;  Dr.  H.  Crosby,  New  York;  and 
Dr.  T.  Dwight,  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  Dr.  Schaff  is 
the  president  of  the  committee,  Dr.  Green  and  Dr.  Woolsey 
the  chairmen  of  the  two  companies.  On  the  7th  December, 
187 1,  a  number  of  American  revisers  met  in  New  York  for 
the  purpose  of  adopting  a  "  constitution,"  which  provided 
that  "The  American  committee  shall  co-operate  with  the 
British  companies  on  the  basis  of  the  principles  and  rules 
of  revision  adopted  by  the  British  committee.  The  British 
companies  will  submit  to  the  American  companies,  from 
time  to  time,  such  portions  of  their  work  as  have  passed  the 
first  revision,  and  the  American  companies  will  transmit 
their  criticisms  and  suggestions  to  the  British  companies 


Objects  of  the  New  Revision.  223 

before   the   second   revision."     The   American  companies 
entered  on  their  work  in  October,  1872. 

During  the  last  seven  years  and  a  half  the  English  revi- 
sion companies  have  regularly  met,  but  as  yet  no  portion  of 
their  work  has  been  given  to  the  world.  It  would  be  pre- 
mature to  speculate  on  the  character  of  the  revised  version, 
or  on  the  reception  which  awaits  it.  On  one  point,  however, 
no  apprehension  will  be  entertained  by  any  who  have  studied 
the  constitution  of  the  companies  or  the  rules  which  guide 
their  action.  There  will  be  no  attempt  to  introduce  a  new 
translation  under  the  mask  of  revision.  The  bond  that 
has  united  the  several  versions  which  have  successively 
been  given  to  the  English  people  will  not  now  be  broken. 
Amongst  those  who  meet  in  the  Jerusalem  Chamber  are 
found  some  of  the  most  careful  students  of  our  early  English 
Bibles;  and  the  labours  of  Tyndale  and  Coverdale  and  their 
noble  followers  are  never  forgotten  in  the  discussions  on  the 
sacred  text.  In  the  last  century  the  chief  aim  of  revisers 
may  have  been  to  depart  as  widely  as  possible  from  the 
severe  style  and  simple  language  of  the  Authorised  Version. 
The  highest  praise  sought  by  any  now  engaged  in  revision  is 
that  they  may  be  held  to  have  removed  the  blemishes  with- 
out impairing  the  excellence  of  our  revered  English  Bible. 


INDEX 


Acts,  Anglo-Saxon,  Free  Version  of,  7. 

yElfric,  Translations  of,  11. 

Aldhelm,  Bishop  of  Sherborne,  4, 

Aldine  Septuagint,  Date  of,  37. 

Alfred  the  Great  as  a  Translator,  11. 

Allen,  William,  182. 

American  Committee  of  Revisers,   221, 

222. 
Andrews,  Dr.  Launcelot,  193. 
Anglo-Norman  Translations,  11. 
Anglo-Saxon  Decalogue,  6. 

,,  Earliest  Sacred  Literature, 

3- 
„  Tongue,  3. 

Apocrypha,  Coverdale's  Preface  to,  113. 
„  of  the  Authorised  Version, 

195- 
,,_         of  the  Bishops'  Bible,  179. 
Authorised  Version  and  Geneva  com- 
pared, 202 — 206. 
,,  ,,        and  Modern  Bibles, 

208. 
,,  ,,        Character  of,  i. 

,,  ,,        compared    with 

other  Translations, 
200. 
„        Dr.  Gell's  Criticism 

of,  213. 
,,        Headings  of  Chap- 
ters, 211. 
,,  ,,        Illustrations  of,  203, 

205. 
„  ,,        Marginal    Notes, 

209. 
,,  „        Merits    and     De- 

merits of,  207. 
„  ,,        Texts,     Differences 

in  the  several  Edi- 
tions, 210. 
„  ,,        Translators'  Preface 

to,  199. 

B. 

Bagster's  Edition  of  Tyndale's  Testa- 
ment, 62. 
Bancroft,  Bishop,  James  I.'s  Letter  to, 

192. 
Bede,  Account  of  Csedmon's  Works,  3. 
,,      Death  of,  4 — 6. 
„      Translation  of  St.  John,  4, 


Bellamy,   Dr.,   Estimate   of   Scriptural 

Translation,  106. 
Beza  New  Testament,  Date  of,  38. 
""'ble  and  the  Vulgate,  29. 

Authorised  Version  indebtedness  to 

Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  112. 
Authorised    Version,    Merits    and 

Demerits  of,  207. 
Authorised  Version  compared  with 

other  Translations,  200. 
Bishop  Lloyd's,  209. 
Bishops',  168. 

,,         Revisers  of,  171. 

,,         Apocryphal  Books,  179. 

„         compared  with  the  Great 

and  Genevan,  175. 
,,         Contents  of,  172. 
,,         Marginal  Notes,  178. 
,,        Variations    in     Different 
Editions,  173. 
Breeches,  164. 
Bruccioli's,  40. 
Cambridge,  209. 
Character  of  Present,  i. 
Coverdale's,  published,  98. 

„  How    divided,    113 — 

116. 
Cromwell,   Thomas,    licensed    to 

Print  the,  141. 
Crusade  against  the,  144. 
Douai,  182. 

„       Authors  of  the,  182. 
Douay,  16. 

Edward  VI.  and  the,  150. 
English,    Later    History    of   the, 

212 — 223. 
English  of  Coverdale's,  118. 
First   Authorised   Version  of   the 

^  English,  123. 
First  French,  Date  of,  38. 
First  printed,  34. 
First  printed  Hebrew,  35. 
First  printed  in  Scotland,  166. 
Gell,    Dr.,    Criticism   on   the   Au- 
thorised Version  of  the,  213. 
Genevan,  156. 

„         Address  to  the  Reader, 

157- 
,,         and   Great,   Circulation 

in  England,  168. 
,,         and  Authorised  Version 
compared,  201—206. 


226 


INDEX. 


Bible,  Genevan,  Rapid  Increase  of  the, 

39- 

„     Great,  Arrangement  of,  148. 

,,  „      Chief  Characteristic  of,  146. 

„  ,,      compared  with  Tyndale  and 

Coverdale's,  144. 

„  „     Copies  of,  still  preserved,  149. 

,,  ,,      Psalter  of,  147. 

,,     Italian  of  Malermi,  39. 

,,  James  I.  's  Opinion  of  the  Genevan, 
191. 

,,     Le  Fevre's  Translation,  40. 

,,     Latin,  First  printed,  34. 

,,     Long  Parliament  and  the,  212. 

,,     Luther's,  41. 

,,  Marginal  Notes  to  Authorised  Ver- 
sion, 209. 

,,     Matthew's,  122. 

,,  „  and   Tyndale's,    com- 

pared, 128. 

,,  ,,  compared  with  Earlier 

Translations,  129 — 
132. 

,,  ,,  corresponds  with  Tyn- 

dale's and  Cover- 
dale's,  126. 

,,  „  Copies    still    existing, 

132. 

,,  ,,  Examination  of,  125. 

,,  ,,  Orderofthe  Books,  132. 

„  ,,  Preliminary      Matter, 

131- 
,,  „  Translators   of  several 

Books,  127. 
„     Modern    and     First     Edition     of 

Authorised  Version,  208. 
,,     of  English  Northern  Speech,  the, 

31- 

„     Olivetan's  Translation,  40. 

,,     Oxford  Edition  of  the,  209. 

„     Popularity  of  the  Great,  140. 

,,  Publication  of  the  Authorised  Ver- 
sion, 199. 

,,     Reyna's,  De,  Translation,  40. 

„  Reynolds,  Dr.,  moves  for  a  New 
Translation,  191. 

,,     Rogers',  John,  128 — 132. 

,,     Taverner's,  133. 

,,  „  Copies  of,  136. 

,,  ,,  examined,  134. 

,,     The  Great,  of  1539,  138. 

,,  „  Successive       Editions, 

142. 

,,     Title-page  of  Coverdale's,  119. 

„  „  the  Great,  138. 

,,  „  the    Fourth    Edition 

of  the  Great,  142. 

„     Two  Early  Versions  of  the,  18. 

,,  Variations  in  Tyndale  and  Cover- 
dale's.  107. 

,,     What  is  an  English,  2. 

,,     Worms,  The,  42. 

,,     Zurich,  The,  41. 

„  ,,       Coverdale's    indebtedness 

to,  109. 


Bibles,  Genevan   compared  with  other, 
163. 
„        printed  in  Edward  VI. 's  Reign, 
ISO- 
Bishops  as  Translators,  143. 

„       at  the  Hampton  Court  Confer- 
ence, 190. 
,,       their    Judgment  of   the   Great 
Bible,  141. 
Book,  Date  of  the  First  English  printed, 

35- 
"  Book  of  Durham,"  The,  to. 
"  Book  of  Laws,"  Alfred  the  Great's,  6. 
*'  Breeches  Bible,"  The,  164. 
British   Museum,    Copies  of  Tyndale's 

Work  in,  66,  79. 
Bruccioli's   Italian    Translation    of   the 
Bible,  40. 

.   C. 

Casdmon,  The  Paraphrase  of,  3. 

Cambridge  Bible,  The,  209. 
,,  Colet  at,  44. 

„  Company  of  Translators,  194, 

^195- 
,,  Coverdale  at,  95. 

,,  Tyndale  at,  43. 

Castalio,  Latin  Bible,  by,  38. 

Canterbury    Houses    of    Convocation, 
Resolution  of,  215. 

Century,  An  Eventful,  33. 

Chapters,    Headings   of,   in  Authorised 
Version,  211. 

Character,  Summary  of  Tyndale's,  56. 

Characteristics  of  Tyndale's  Old  Testa- 
ment Translation,  84. 

Cheke,    Sir  John,    translates   St.    Mat- 
thew, 151. 

Colet,  Dr.,  at  Cambridge,  44. 

Cochlaeus'  Conspiracy  against  TjTidale, 
49- 

College,  The  Douai,  182. 

Cologne,  Tyndale  at,  43. 

, ,         Printi  ng  the  English  Testament 
at,  49. 

Companies  of  Translators,    Five,   193  — 
195-     . 
„  Instructions  to,  196. 

Concordances.  Robert  Hervey's,  166. 

Conference,  The  Hampton  Court,  190. 

Cotton  Manuscripts,  The,  10. 

Controversalist,  Tyndale  as  a,  57. 

Constance  Council  and  the  Lollards,  34. 

Coverdale,   Birth   and    supposed  Birth- 
place, 9s. 
,,  at  Cambridge,  95. 

,,  Letter  to  Thomas  Cromwell, 

95- 
,,  Connection  with  Tyndale,  96. 

„  publishe-i  his  Bible.  98. 

„  Third    Edition,  dedicated  to 

the  King,  99. 
,,  Patronage  of  Cromwell,  99. 

„  Exile  from  England,  100. 

,,  Honours  and  Death,  100. 


INDEX. 


227 


Coverdale's  Reasons  for  Translating,  loi. 
„  indebtedness  to  other  Trans- 

lations, 102 — 106. 
,,  Specimens    of   his  Transla- 

tions, 103,  104. 
y.  Translation    vindicated    by 

Whittaker,  106. 
,,  Five  Interpreters  assist.  107. 

,,  and    Tyndale's  Translation, 

Variations  in,  107,  108,  no, 
III. 
,,  and  Luther's  Version,  109. 

,,  and  the  Zurich  Bible,  109. 

,,  Importance   of   his  Transla- 

tion, 112. 
,,  and  the  Authorised  Version, 

112. 
,,  his  Preface  to  the  Apocrypha, 

"3- 
,,  Divisions  of  his  Bible,  113 — 

116. 
„  Psalter,  ir6. 

,,  English  of  his  Version,  118. 

,,  Title-Pages  to  his  Bible,  119. 

„  his      Latin-English    Testa- 

ment, 120. 
„  Authorised   by   Cromwell   to 

Prepare  a  Third  Bible.  137. 
„  his  Bible  compared  with  the 

Great,  144. 
Convocation,  A  Petition  from,  98. 

,,  Houses    of,     Resolution 

passed  by,  215. 
,,  „  Committee 

of,  216. 
Cranmer  and  Matthew's  Bible,  123. 
,,        Connection     with    the     Great 
Bible,  141,  142. 
Crowland,  Guthlac  of,  4. 
Cromwell,  Thonaas,  and  the  Great  Bible, 
140. 
„  ■       Coverdale's  Letter  to,  95. 
„  obtains  a  License   for  Print- 

ing the  Bible,  141. 
,,  Patronage  of,  99. 

Cuthbert's    account   of    Bede's   Death, 
4-6. 

D. 

Decalogue,  The  Anglo-Saxon,  6. 
Dobenek,  John,  conspires  against  Tyn- 

dale,  49. 
"  Dooms,"  King  Alfred's,  6. 
Douai,  Roman  College  of,  iSa. 
Douay  Bible,  The,  16. 

E. 

Eadfrith's  Gospels,  10. 

Edward  VF.  and  the  Bible,  150. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  and  the  Bible,  165. 
„  Bibles     published     in     her 

Reign,  168. 

Enchiridion  Militis  Christiani,  Trans- 
lated by  Tyndale,  45. 


England,  Date  of  the  first  Book  printed 
in,  35- 
„         Tyndale's    Testament    Intro- 
duced into.  51. 
English  Metrical  Paraphrases,  Early,  12. 
,,       of  Coverdale's  Translation,  118. 
Engraving,    Holbein's,   for    the    Great 

Bible,  138. 
Enzinas,  Spanish  Translation  by,  40. 
Epistles,  Authorised  Version,  Translators 

of.  195. 
Erasmus  and  the  Scriptures,  47. 
„         in  England,  36. 
,,        his  Latin  Paraphrases,  36. 
„         his  Greek  Testament,  36,  74. 
„         Greek    Manuscripts    used  by, 
74- 
Exodus,  Anglo-Saxon  Portion  of,  7. 


Farmen  and  Owun,  Anglo-Saxon  Trans- 
lators, 10. 

Fevre,  Le,  Translation  by,  40. 

Fisher's,  Bishop,  Penitential  Psalms,  39. 

Forshall    and     Madden's    Edition    of 
WycliflFe,  19. 

Foxe's  Account  of  Tyndale,  43. 

„       Summary  of  Tyndale's   Charac- 
ter, 56. 

Fragment,  The  Grenville,  60. 

French  Bible,  Date  of  the  first,  38. 

Froude's  Eulogy  on  Tyndale,  94. 

Fry,    Francis,    Facsimile    of   "Tyndale's 
Testament,  61. 

G. 

Gaunt,  John  of,  protects  Wycliffe,  18. 
Gell,  Dr.,  Criticism  on  the  Authorised 

Version,  213. 
Genesis,  Character  of  Tyndale's  Trans- 
lation of,  81. 
Geneva,  Band  of  Exiles  in,  153. 

,,        Bible  and  Testament,  Editions 

of,  166. 
„        Bible,  James  I .  's  Opinion  of,  191 . 
,,  ,,      and   Authorised    Version 

compared,  201 — 206. 
Genevan  Bible,  156. 

,,  ,,      Address  to  the  Reader, 

157- 
„  „      compared  with   others, 

164. 
„  „      Explanatory   Notes   of^ 

162. 
,,  ,,      Examples  of,  163. 

„  ,,      Language  of,  165. 

,,  „     Result      of     combined 

Labour,  158. 
„       Testament,  and   Testament  of 
Genevan  Bible,  159. 
German  Bible,  rapid  Increase  of,  39. 
Geste,    Bishop   of  Rochester,   and    the 

Psalter,  169. 
Gilby,  Anthony,  153. 
Gloss,  Manuscript  of  the  Rushworth,  lo. 


228 


INDEX, 


Gospels,  Character  of  the  Anglo-Saxon, 
9- 
,,         Extract  from,  lo. 
„         Lindisfarne,  lo. 
„         of  Authorised  Version,  Trans- 
lators of,  195. 
„         of  Macregol,  10. 
,,         of  St.  Cuthbert,  10. 
Goths,  Bible  translated  for  the,  38. 
Grafton,  Imprisonment  of,  143. 
Greek  Grammar,  Date  of  first  printed,  35. 
,,      Lexicon,  Date  of  first  printed,  35. 
,,      Learning,  Revival  of,  34. 
,,      Testament,     Date    of    the    first 

printed,  35. 
,,      Testament    Erasmus',    used    by 

Tyndale,  76. 
,,      Text  of  Tyndale,  74. 
Gregory's   "Pastoral    Care,"  King  Al- 
fred's Preface  to,  6. 
Guthlac  of  Crowland,  4. 

H. 

Hamburg,  Tyndale  in,  48. 
Hampton  Court  Conference,  190. 
Harman  and  Anne  Boleyn,  64. 
Hebrew  Bible,  Date  of  the  first  printed, 
35- 
,,       Grammar   and   Lexicon   of 
Reuchlin,  35. 
Henry  VIIL  and  the  Great  Bible,  139, 
141. 
,,  and  the  Translators  of  the 

Testament,  98. 
„  Coverdale's     Bible    dedi- 

cated to,  99. 
,,  Lee's  Letter  to,  51. 

Hereford,  Nicholas  de.  Translation,  and 
Wycliffe,  22. 
„  ,,  and      Purvey's 

Translation,  25. 
Heresy,  Tyndale  accused  of,  45. 
Hervey,  Lord  A.,  discovers    Tyndale's 

Jonah,  85. 
Hervey,    Robert   F.,    Concordances    of, 

166. 
Holbein,  Hans,  and  the  Great  Bible,  138. 
Huss,  John,  on  Wycliffe's  Translation, 
22. 
,,  Sympathy  with  Wycliffe, 

33- 
I. 
Idiom  and  Literalness,  73. 
Inquisition,  Mandate  of,  137. 
Interpreter's,  Coverdale's  Five,  107. 
Italian  Bible  of  Malermi,  39. 


James  I.  arranges  for  a  New  Transla- 
tion, 192. 
,,         Opinion  of  the  Genevan  Bible, 

191. 
„         Religious  Parties  on  his  Ac- 
cession, 190. 


Jerome's  Psalter,  8. 

John's,  St.,  Gospel,  Bede's  Translation 

of,  4. 
Joye's  Revision  of  Tyndale's  Testament, 

63. 
Juda,  Leo,  Date  of  Translation  by,  82. 

K. 
Knighton,  Henry,  and  Wycliflfe's  Trans- 
lation, 22. 

.    L. 

Labours,  Tyndale's,  depreciated,  87. 

Latin-English  Testaments,  Coverdale's, 
120. 

Latin,  Wycliffe's  Translation  from,  28. 

Laurence,    Thomas,   and   the    Bishop's 
Bible,  172,  173. 

Lee's  Letter  to  King  Henry  VIIL,  51. 

Lindisfarne  Gospels,  10. 

Literalness  and  Idiom,  73. 

Literature,    Sacred,    Earliest    Anglo- 
Saxon,  3. 

Lloyd's,  Bishop,  Bible,  209. 

London,  Bishop  of,  and  Tyndale,  48. 

Lollards,  Influerfce  of,  33. 

,,         Writings  condemned,  34. 

Lord's    Prayer,    a    Fourteenth   Century 
Version  of,  13. 

Luther,  Tyndale's  Visit  to,  49. 

Luther's  Arrangement  of  the  Books  of 
the  Testament,  78. 
„        German  Testament  and   Bible, 

41. 
,,        Translation,  Influence  of,  39. 

Lyra,  Nicholas  de,  27. 

M. 
Macregol.  Gospels  of,  10. 
Malermi,  Italian  Bible  of,  39. 
Malmesbury,  William  of,  referred  to,  6. 
Manuscripts,  The  Cotton,  10. 

,,  Greek,  Variations  in,  74. 

,,  „      used   by   Erasmus, 

74.  75- 
Marburg,  Tyndale's  Residence  and  Work 

at.  54. 
Marginal  Comments,  Purvey's,  26. 

,,         Notes  of  Authorised  Version, 
209. 
Marler,  Anthony,  Granted  a  Patent  to 

Print  the  Bible,  143. 
Marsh,  G.  P.,  Estimate  of  Tyndale,  91. 
Martyrdom,  Tyndale  s,  56. 
Mary,  Queen,  prohibits  Scripture  read- 
ing, 152. 
(Matthew,  St.,  Gospel  of,  translated  by 
Cheke,  151. 
,,  Specimen,  151. 

,,  Thomas,  125. 

,,  Vocabulary    and     Character- 

istics, 152. 
Matthew's  Bible,  122. 

„  ,,      and     Tyndale's     com- 

'  pared,  128. 


INDEX. 


229 


Matthew's  Bible  compared  with  Earlier 
Translations,      129 — 

,,  ,,      Copies    still     existing, 

132. 
,,  „      corresponds    with    Co- 

verdale's    and    Tyn- 

dale's,  126. 
,,  ,,      Joshua   to   Chronicles, 

Translators  of,  127. 
„  ,,      Order  of  the    Books, 

132. 
„  ,,      Preliminary      Matter, 

,,  „      Recommended      to 

Cromwell,  123. 
Mazarin  Bible,  the  first  printed  Book,  35. 

,,  ,,       Value  of  a,  35. 

Millenary  Petition,  The,  190, 
Monmouth,  Humphrey,  48. 
More,     Sir    Thomas,     and     Tyndale's 
Translation,  89. 
,,  ,,  quoted,  32. 

Munster,     Sebastian,     Old      Testament 
Translation,  37. 

N. 

Nation  and  the  Bible,  The,  140. 
Notes,  Early  Explanatory,  27. 

„       Explanatory    of     the     Genevan 

Bible,  162. 
„  .  ,,  Examples,  163. 

„  ,,  of  Wjfcliffe.  27. 

,,       Marginal  of  Authorised  Version, 

209. 
„       of  the  Bishops'  Bible,  178. 


Olivetan,  Translation  by,  40. 
"  Ormulum,"  the  Poem,  12. 
Orm's  Metrical  Paraphrase,  12. 
Oxford    Company  of  Translators,   194, 
195- 

,,        Edition  of  the  Bible,  209. 

,,        Greek  First  Taught  in,  35. 

„       Tyndale  at,  43. 


Pagninus's,  Sanctes,  Latin  Translation, 

37- 
Paraphrase  of  Caedmon,  3. 
Paraphrasts,  The  Earlier,  i — 16. 
Paris,  Coverdale  in,  137. 
Parker,  Archbp.,  designs  a  Translation, 
169. 
,,  „  Edition  of  the  Anglo- 

Saxon  Gospels,  9. 
,,  ,,  Letter  to  Cecil,  170. 

Parliament,    Act     of,    relating     to     the 
Scriptures,  143. 
„  and  the  Bible,  the  Long, 

212. 
"Pastoral     Care,"    Gregory's,    Alfred's 
Preface  to,  6. 


Pentateuch  translated  by  Tyndale,  79. 
,,  Tyndale's,  79. 

,,  ,,  Illustration  of,  80. 

,,  ,,  Character  of,  81. 

,,  of   the   Authorised   Version 

and  Tyndale's,  86. 
Period,  An  Eventful,  96.  ^v 

Petition,  Millenary,  190. 
Poem,  Roye's  Satirical,  52. 
Pope,  Tyndale  defies  the,  46. 
Polyglott,  tke  Complutensian,  36. 
Prayer-Bookand  Coverdale's  Psalter,  116. 
,,         ,,     Revision  of,  213. 
,,  ,,  ,,        Character  of,  213, 

214. 
„      Lords,  14th  Century  Version  of, 
13- 
Preface  of  Authorised  Version,  199. 
Printing,  Invention  of,  34. 

,,  Rapid  Spread  of,  35. 

Proclamation,  A  Royal,  96. 
Prologue,  Character  of  Wycliffe's,  20. 
Prophets,    Coverdale's    and    Authorised 

Version,  117. 
Psalms,  and  Geste,  Bishop  of  Rochester, 
169. 
„        Northumbrian  Version  of,  13. 
,,        Penetential,  Bishop  Fisher's,  39. 
Psalter,  Anglo-Saxon  Versions  of,  8. 
,,        Coverdale's,  116. 
„        Shoreham  and  Rolle's  Versions 
of,  15. 
The  Great  Bible,  147. 
Puritans  at  Hampton  Court  Conference, 

190. 
Purvey,  John,  quoted,,  11. 
„        Retraction  of,  18. 
,,        Translation  by,  22. 
„  ,,  comparison  of,  with 

Hereford's,  25. 
„  „  Marginal  Comments, 

26, 


Reuchlin's  Hebrew  Grammar  and  Lexi- 
con, 35. 
Revisers,  American  Committee  of,  222. 
„         Archbishop  Parker's  Rules  for, 

170. 
„         Names    of     Old    and     New 

Testament,  217,  218. 
,,  Rules  adopted  by,  218. 

Revision,   Bible,  Various   Schemes  for, 
214. 
„  of  Authorised  Version,  Last, 

198. 
,,  Probable     Results      of     the 

Present,  223. 

,,  Specimens  of  a  New,  215. 

Reynolds,    Dr.,     petitions   for    a    New 

Translation,  191. 
Rheims  Testament,  The,  iSr. 
Rinck,  Hermann,  50. 
Rogers,  John,  Career  of,  124. 

„        Bible  compared  with  others,  12S. 


230 


INDEX. 


Rolle's  Version  of  the  Psalter,  15. 

,,       Illustrations  from,  15. 
Roman  Psalter,  Jerome's,  9. 
Rome,  Tyndale  as  an  Assailant  of,  81. 
Roye's  Poetical  Satire,  52. 
Rules  for  Revisers,  170,  218. 
"  Rushworth   Gloss"  Manuscript,  The, 


Salus  Animse,  13. 
Sampson,  Thomas,  154. 
Saxon  Translation,  Loss  of,  11. 
Scholars,  English,  of  the  15th  Century, 

35-  .  . 

Scotland,  First  Bible  printed  in,  166. 
Scriptures,  Erasmus  and  the,  47. 

„  Contents    and    Arrangement 

of  Wycliffe's,  28. 
„  First     Portion      printed      in 

England,  39. 
„  in  Anglo-Saxon  Prose,  6,  7. 

„  Names  of   Revisers    of    the, 

217,    218,    220 232. 

„  Petition  for  their  Translation, 

98._ 
,,  Portions     assigned      to     be 

translated,  193 — 195. 
„  Prohibited  in  Mary's  Reign, 

152. 
„  Reynolds,    Dr.,  petitions  for 

a  New  Translation,  191. 
„  Reading  of,  restricted,  143. 

„  Royal  Proclamation  against, 

97- 
,,  Translation    of,  in   the    14th 

Century,  23. 
,,  Translated  into  Slavonic,  38. 

,,  Two    Versions    of   the    14th 

Century  com- 
pared, 21. 
„  „  „         Illustrations 

of,  24,  25. 
,,  „  ,,         Supposed    Au- 

thors, 22. 
„  Vernacular    Translation    of, 

38. 
Selden  quoted,  198. 
Septuagint,  the  Aldine,  Date  of,  37. 
Sherborne,  Aldhelm,  Bishop  of,  4. 
Shipwreck,  Tyndale  suffers,  54. 
Shoreham's  Version  of  the  Psalter,  15. 
Slavonic,  Scriptures  translated  into,  38. 
Spelman's  Anglo-Saxon  Psalter,  8. 
Spanish  Translation  of  the  Bible,  40^ 
Stevenson's  Anglo-Saxon  Psalter,  8. 
Sowlehele,  The,  13. 


Taverner,  Richard,  132. 

„  publishes  the  Bible,  133. 

„  Bible  examined,  134. 

,,  New    Testament    examined, 

135- 


Testament,  New,  Anne  Boleyn's  Copy 
of,  65. 
,,  ,,      Authorised       Version 

compared     with 
others,  206. 
„  ,,      Copies    of  Tyndale's 

preserved,  64, 66,69. 
„  ,,      Coverdale's,  Arrange- 

men  t 
of,  115. 
,,  ,,  „  Latin- 

Eng- 
lish, 
120. 
„  ,,      Date  of  Beza's,  38. 

,,  ,,      Discovery   of   a   Por- 

tion of  Tyndale's,59. 
,,  „      Facsimile  of  a  Portion 

of  Tyndale's,  60. 
,,  ,,      Erasmus's  Greek,  36. 

,,  ,,  „  and     Tyn- 

dale's com- 
pared, 76. 
,,  ,,      German,  41. 

„  ,,      Genevan,  154. 

,,  ,,  „  compared 

with  others, 
159.  160. 
,,  ,,      Joye's      Revision     of 

Tyndale's,  63. 
.,  ,,      Latin    Paraphrase    of 

the,  36. 
,,  ,,      Luther's.  78. 

„  ,,      of  the  Bishops'  Bible, 

176. 
,,  ,,      printed  at  Cologne,  49. 

„  ,,      Rheims,  i8r. 

„  „      Tyndale's  Arrange- 

ment, 77. 
>»  »  „  Several 

Editions, 
61,62,64, 
65,  69. 
„  „  „  andAutho- 

risedVer- 
sion,  70. 
„  Old,    Munster    Translation 

of,  37-' 
Text  ?  Greek,  Did  Tyndale  use  the,  74. 
Texts,  Variations  in  Authorised  Version, 

210. 
Textual    Differences   in    Nicholas    and 

Purvey,  25. 
Thorpe's  "Translation  of  Csedmon,  3. 
Title-Page  of  Coverdale's  Bible,  119. 
„  of  the  Great  Bible,  138. 

„  to    the    Authorised  Version, 

199. 
,,  to  the  Genevan   Testament, 

„  to  the  Fourth  Edition  of  the 

Great  Bible,  142. 
Tomson,     Laurence,     Edition    of     the 

Genevan  Testament,  166. 
Translation  by  Le  Fevre,  40. 


INDEX. 


231 


Translation  by  Olivetan,  40. 
,,  Italian,  40. 

„  Influence  of  Luther' Sj  39. 

Translation,  Illustrations  of: — 
Alfred,  King,  "  Dooms,"  6. 
Anglo-Saxon,  Luke  ii.,  12. 

,,  Genesis  xlv.,  13. 

,,  Psalm  cxxi.,  14. 

Authorised  Version,  Isaiah  liv.,  203. 
,,  „         Romans  xii., 

205. 
Bishop's  Bible,  Isaiah  liv. ,  203. 

,,  ,,       Romans  xii.,  205. 

Casdmon.  Paraphrase,  3. 
Cheke,  Sir  John,  Matthew  xiv.,  151. 
Coverdale,  Numbers  xxiv.,  103. 
„  Isaiah  xii.,  104. 

,,  Isaiah  liv.,  202. 

,,  Romans  xii.,  204. 

,,  Colossians  i.,  104. 

Douai  Bible,  Isaiah  liv. ,  202. 
Genevan  Bible,  Isaiah  liv.,  203. 
,,  „      Luke  i.,  160. 

,,  ,,      Romans  xii.,  205. 

Great  Bible,  Isaiah  liv. .  203. 

,,  ,,       Romans  xii. ,  204. 

Matthew's  Bible,  Romans  xii.,  204. 
Purvey,  2  Samuel  xxiii.,  24. 
„         Psalm  xc,  25. 
„         Matthew  xiii.,  67. 
,,         John  vii.,  24. 
„         Colossians  i.,  25. 
Rheims  Testament,  Romans  xii. ,  205. 
Rolle,  Richard,  Psalm  Ixxviii.,  15. 
Shoreham,  Psalm  xxiii.,  15. 
Tyndale,  Numbers  xxiv.,  83. 
„         Isaiah  xii.,  80. 
„         Jonah  iv.,  83. 
„         Matthew  xiii.,  60,  67. 
,,         Romans  xii.,  204. 
„         Colossians  i.,  68. 
,,         Hebrews  xi.,  68. 
WyclifFe,  2  Samuel  xxiii.,  24. 
„         P>alm  xc,  25. 
„         Isaiah  liv.,  202. 
„        John  vii.,  24. 
J,         Colossians  i.,  25. 
Translation  Spanish,  40. 
Translators,  Bishops  as,  143. 
„  Early  English,  4. 

„  Method  of  Work,  20. 

„  Tyndale's  Independence  of 

other.  88. 
Tyndale,  Foxe's  Account  of,  43,  44. 

Date  and  Place  of  Birth,  44. 
Residence  with  Sir  J.  Walsh, 

44- 
accused  of  Heresy,  45. 
Translates  Enchiridion,  &c., 

45- 
and  the  Pope,  46. 
Dawning  of  a  Great  Purpose, 

46. 
Reminiscence  of  Childhood,  47. 
and  the  Bishop  of  London,  48. 


Tyndale  on  the  Continent,  48. 

„         visits  Luther,  49. 

,,  Dobenek's  Conspiracy  against, 
49. 

„  Prints  the  New  Testament, 
49,  51- 

„  Efforts  made  to  Suppress  his 
Translation,  53. 

,,         at  Marburg,  54. 

,,         suffers  Shipwreck,  54. 

,,         assisted  by  Coverdale,  54. 

,,         Translates  the  Pentateuch,  55. 

„  Controversy  with  Sir  T.  More, 
55- 

„  Title  of  his  Revised  Testa- 
ment. 55. 

„  Third  Edition  of  his  Testa- 
ment, 56. 

,,         Martyrdom.  56. 

„         Summary  of  Character,  56. 

,,        as  a  Controversalist,  57. 

„  Discovery  of  a  Portion  of  his 
First  Testament,  6r. 

,,         his  Octavo  Testament,  61. 

,,  his  Octavo  and  Quarto  com- 
pared, 62. 

„         his  Second  Edition,  64. 

,,         his  Third  Edition,  65. 

, ,  I  llustrations  of  his  Translation, 
.  67,  83. 

,,         his  Pentateuch,  79. 

„        his  Genesis  examined,  81. 

,,         his  Book  of  Jonah,  82. 

,,         and  the  Authorised  Version  85. 

„  Translates  from  the  Original, 
86. 

,,         misjudged,  87. 

,,         his  Learning,  88. 

,,  Independence  as  a  Translator, 
88. 

„        and  Sir  T.  More,  89. 

„         and  Wycliflfe,  90,  92. 

„         Froude's  Eulogy  on,  94. 

„  vindicated  by  Dr.  Whittaker, 
106. 

„  connection  with  Matthew's 
Bible,  127. 

„  his  Translation  and  the  Great 
Bible  compared,  144. 


Umias,  38. 


U. 


V. 


Variations  in  Tyndale  and   Coverdale, 

29. 
Verses,  First  Translation  with,  37. 
Version,    Authorised,    Translation    of, 
193—195. 

,,  Genevan,  150. 

Vulgate,  Character  of  the,  183. 

„     Translation  critically  examined, 
185-188. 

„      Various  Editions  of,  189. 

„      Weakest  Part  of  the,  29. 


232 


INDEX. 


W. 

Waldo,  Peter,  38. 

Walsh,  Sir  John,  and  Tyndale,  44. 

Westminster    Company  of  Translators, 

.193- 
Whittaker's,  Dr. ,  vindication  of  Tyndale 

and  Coverdale,  106. 
Whittingham,  William,  154. 
Wish,  A  King's,  6. 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  and  Tyndale,  54, 
Wood's,  Anthony  a,  Account  of  Taverner, 

132. 
Words,  Ecclesiastical,  discarded  by  Tyn- 
dale, 89. 
,,        Different  ways  of  Spelling.  65. 
,,        Familiar  and  Strange,  of  Tyn- 
dale, 71. 
„        Tyndale's  use  of  connective,  73. 


Work  and  Workmen,  The,  2. 
Worms  Bible,  42. 

,,      Tyndale  at,  50. 
Wycliffe,  Career  of,  17. 

,,        Did   he   Translate  the   Scrip- 
tures? 18,  22. 

„         the  First  Translator,  23. 

,,        completes    Hereford's    Trans- 
lation, 23. 

,,         Contents  and  Arrangement  of 
his  Versions,  28. 

,,        his  Versions  and  Later  Trans- 
lations, 30. 

,,         Is  his  the  Earliest  ?  31. 

„        his    Translations   condemned, 

''■     z. 

Zurich  Bible,  The,  41. 


INDEX    OF    BOOKS    QUOTED    AND 
REFERRED    TO. 


Anderson,  A  nnals  of  the  English  Bible, 
98,  99. 
„  Letters  ofCochlceus,  50. 

Arber,  Facsimile  of  the  Grenville  Frag- 
ment, 44,  47,  54.  57,  61. 
,,       Preface  to  More's  Dialos^ue,  90. 
Baber,  Ne-w  Testametit  by  Wiclif  8. 
Bagster,  English  Hexapla,  19,  39,  47, 

Bede,  Ecclesiastical  History ,  3,  6. 

Bible  Edticator,  211. 

Caxton   Celebration  Catalogue,  40,  99, 

122,  136. 
Clarke,  Dr.  A.,  Com>nentary,  19 
Coverdale's  Remains,  96. 
Davies,  Rev.  T.  L.  O.,  Bible-English, 

211. 
Demaus,  Life  of  Lati^ner,  98. 

„        Life  of  Tyndale,  44,  47,  49,  54, 
55.  58,  64.  81,  96. 
Earlwood  and  Wright,  The  Bible  Word- 

Book,  211. 
Erasmus,    Enchiridion    Militis    Chris- 

tiani,  45. 
Forshall   and   Madden,    The  Wycliffite 

Versions,  31. 
Foxe,  Acts  and  Monuments,  31,  42,  44, 
54.  55,  58,  124,  127. 
,,      Life  of  Tyndale,  57. 
Froude,  A. ,  History  of  England,  94. 
Fry,  Coverdale's  Bible,  119. 
Fulke,  Defence  of  English  Translations, 
142. 
„      Etiglish  Retraced,  165. 


Gell,   Robert,    An  Essay    Toward  the 

Ajuendment  of  the  Last  E}iglish 

Translation  of  the  Bible,  213. 
GInsburg,  Cotnmentary  on  Ecclesiastes, 

109. 
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CASSELL   FETTER   &   GALPIN,    BELLE   SAUVAGE  WORKS,    LONDON,    E.C. 


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